What does coincidence mean?
Word: Coincidence
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Coincidence means two things happening at the same time without being planned, in a way that seems surprising.
Synonyms: accident, fluke
Antonyms: plan, design
How do you spell coincidence?
Syllables: co - in - ci - dence
Tricky part: The ending is -dence, not -dance, and the s sound in the middle is spelt c.
Watch out for: coincidance, coinsidence, coincedence
Memory tip: Spot the coin at the front: where a tossed coin lands is pure luck, and a coincidence is pure luck too.
Coincidence in a sentence
Example 1: By coincidence, Samuel and his teacher wore the same shirt on Monday.
Example 2: It was no coincidence that the sweets vanished when my cousins visited.
Example 3: What a coincidence to meet our neighbours at the airport in Dubai.
Fun Fact
It came into English around 1600, when it meant that two things matched exactly. The sense of happening at the same time came in the 1640s, and the sense of something surprising that happens by luck came later still.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) occurence
b) accomodation
c) coincidence
d) independance
Show answer
c) coincidence. Accommodation doubles both c and m, occurrence doubles the r, and independence ends in -ence.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
coinciedence
a) i
b) c
c) d
d) e
Show answer
d) e. After the second c comes i and then d straight away, as in incident.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word:
coincidence
a) habit
b) reason
c) chance
d) pattern
Show answer
c) chance. A coincidence happens by chance, with no reason or pattern behind it.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
dneeinccoci
a) incidence
b) confidence
c) coincidence
d) coincident
Show answer
c) coincidence. There are three c's hidden in the jumble, and only coincidence uses all three.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which event is a coincidence?
a) a shop closing at nine every night
b) two friends buying you the same birthday card
c) a train arriving on time every day
d) the sun rising in the east each morning
Show answer
b) two friends buying you the same birthday card
2. Asha said, 'It is no coincidence that you scored well - you practised every day.' She means the high score ____.
a) came as a total surprise
b) was just a lucky accident
c) was not really deserved
d) was the result of hard work
Show answer
d) was the result of hard work
