Happening

//ˈhæpɪnɪŋ// adj, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Busy, lively; vibrant, dynamic; fashionable. slang

    "“[…]San Francisco is not exactly the most happening place, you know.”"

  2. 2
    Trendy, up-to-the-minute. slang

    "Every show has its hottest, most happening trends. If I were to isolate just one for hardware and one for software, this year's hot hardware would be the 386 machines, and the happening software would be desktop publishing."

Noun
  1. 1
    Something that happens.

    "Three follow-up singles, all ecological or religious in theme, did chart in the lower reaches of the Hot 100. Thereafter, Ocean remained a Canadian happening."

  2. 2
    an event that happens wordnet
  3. 3
    A spontaneous or improvised event, especially one that involves audience participation.

    "And it was some kind of happening / Some kind of happening / Salvador Dali's garden party"

Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of happen form-of, gerund, participle, present

    "From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much.[…] But viewed from high up in one of the growing number of skyscrapers in Sri Lanka’s capital, it is clear that something extraordinary is happening: China is creating a shipping hub just 200 miles from India’s southern tip."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English *happenynge, *happnynge. By surface analysis, happen + -ing.

Etymology 2

From Middle English *happenynge, *happnynge. By surface analysis, happen + -ing.

Etymology 3

From Middle English happenyng, equivalent to happen + -ing. As term used in performance art popularized by Allan Kaprow.

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