1[countableC, uncountableU]TIME/AT THE SAME TIME when two things happen at the same time, in the same place, or to the same people in a way that seems surprising or unusual 巧合,巧事;同时发生 → coincide, coincidental
‘I’m going to Appleby tomorrow.’ ‘What a coincidence! I’m going there too.’
“明天我要去阿普尔比。”“太巧了!我也要去那里。”
by coincidence
By coincidence, John and I both ended up at Yale.
巧得很,我和约翰最后都进了耶鲁大学。
sheer/pure coincidence (=completely by chance) 纯属巧合
It was sheer coincidence that we were staying in the same hotel.
真是太巧了,我们就住在同一家宾馆。
not a coincidence/more than coincidence (=not chance, but deliberate) 并非巧合
I think it is more than coincidence that all the complaints have come from the same group of people.
所有投诉都来自同一群人,我想这就不是巧合了。
2[singular] formalSAME when two ideas, opinions etc are the same 〔思想、观点等的〕一致,相符
coincidence of
a coincidence of interest between the mining companies and certain politicians
采矿公司和某些政客在利益上的一致
nCOLLOCATIONS
adjectives
sheer/pure coincidence (=complete chance)
It was pure coincidence that we were on the same plane.
mere coincidence (=only chance and nothing else)
Is it mere coincidence that they always seem to employ men?
a happy/lucky/fortunate coincidence
It was just a happy coincidence that he was there too.
an unfortunate coincidence
By a very unfortunate coincidence, she didn’t get either of his emails.
a strange/curious coincidence
What a strange coincidence that you were both living in Bangkok at the same time.
a remarkable/amazing/extraordinary coincidence
What an extraordinary coincidence meeting you here!
phrases
it is a coincidence that
It was a remarkable coincidence that two people with the same name were staying at the hotel.
it is not a/no coincidence that (=it is deliberate)
It is no coincidence that the Government made the announcement today.
be more than (a) coincidence (=there is some other explanation)
When I saw him a third time, I realized it was more than just coincidence.
a string/series/set of coincidences
The accident happened because of a string of unfortunate coincidences.
Examples from the Corpus
coincidence• It was just a coincidence that we were in Paris at the same time.• What was the probability - the unvarnishedstatisticallikelihood - of such a coincidence?• It was a coincidence that three earthquakes happened across the world in one week.• Hi Phil. What a coincidence -- we were just talking about you.• My mother is called Anna, and by coincidence my wife's mother is called Anna too.• We were all linked in a vast and rhythmiccoincidence, a daisychain of rumor, suspicion and secretwish.• By a strangecoincidence the king was assassinated on the very spot where his grandfather had been killed.• After all, the coincidence could not be expected to occur so neatly every 150 million years.• It is regarded as a purely naturalphenomenon which, by an unusual coincidence, occurs in the walls of their convent.
What a coincidence• "Ruby's dad gave her the exact same thing that she gave us for our wedding." "You're kidding! What a coincidence."
coincidence of• There is a coincidence of opinion among the board members.