circumstance
circumstances
A circumstance is the condition in which something happens. Say you were at a business luncheon and you had to suddenly leave because you started feeling sick, your boss might excuse your sudden departure, given the circumstance.
Circumstance comes from the Latin meaning the conditions around something. If you are born in a war zone, you're born into a difficult circumstance. If you're making decisions about awarding a scholarship to the most needy person, you'll need information about each candidate's circumstances. If you didn't do your homework because the power was out all night, tell your teacher that under the circumstance, you couldn't see well enough to read.
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the set of facts or circumstances that surround a situation or event
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types:
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conditions
the set of circumstances that affect someone's welfare
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conditions
the prevailing context that influences the performance or the outcome of a process
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type of:
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environment
the totality of surrounding conditions
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conditions
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a condition that accompanies or influences some event or activity
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information that should be kept in mind when making a decision
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synonyms:
condition, consideration
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types:
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justification
something (such as a fact or circumstance) that shows an action to be reasonable or necessary
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mitigating circumstance
(law) a circumstance that does not exonerate a person but which reduces the penalty associated with the offense
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type of:
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information
knowledge acquired through study or experience or instruction
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justification
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formal ceremony about important occasions“pomp and circumstance”
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type of:
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ceremonial, ceremonial occasion, ceremony, observance
a formal event performed on a special occasion
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ceremonial, ceremonial occasion, ceremony, observance
Vocabulary lists containing circumstance
Eleven-year-old Harriet faces difficulties when her personal notebook — full of detailed observations about her friends, classmates, and neighbors — ends up in the wrong hands.
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