How to Use occasion in a Sentence

occasion

1 of 2 noun
  • They marked the occasion with their families.
  • She wrote a song especially for the occasion.
  • Roses are the perfect flower for any occasion.
  • The club leaned on the brand on occasion last year, too.
    — Zack Meisel, New York Times, 24 Sep. 2025
  • We were not dressed for the occasion.
    — Peter Larsen, Oc Register, 25 Mar. 2026
  • Maybe there's a cold breeze that comes by on occasion.
    — Maggie Menderski, Louisville Courier Journal, 10 Oct. 2025
  • This was one of those occasions.
    — Ryan Brennan, Charlotte Observer, 12 Mar. 2026
  • Cindy Gold rose to the occasion to play the lead role.
    — Cam'ron Hardy, Chicago Tribune, 5 Sep. 2025
  • On both occasions Roberts went to the bullpen.
    — Barry M. Bloom, Sportico.com, 29 Oct. 2025
  • But on other occasions, both erupt at the same time.
    — Quanta Magazine, 27 Mar. 2026
  • Olympic nails have been seen clasping medals on more than one occasion.
    — Amarachi Orie, CNN Money, 20 Feb. 2026
  • Perhaps, at least one will rise to the occasion.
    — Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News, 26 May 2026
  • The princess looked lovely in a gray, two-piece pantsuit for the occasion.
    — Janine Henni, PEOPLE, 11 Sep. 2025
  • He was pushed down the depth chart this season and was a healthy scratch on a few occasions.
    — Michael-Shawn Dugar, New York Times, 12 Mar. 2026
  • And from the occasion, an old story emerged.
    — Cody Stavenhagen, New York Times, 23 June 2026
  • On this occasion, get out of the house and call 911.
    — Hallie Milstein, Southern Living, 4 Feb. 2026
  • The Kings came back to cut the deficit to one on a few occasions late in the first half.
    — Jason Anderson, Sacbee.com, 10 Jan. 2026
  • Duwaji went all black for the occasion.
    — Renan Botelho, Footwear News, 5 Nov. 2025
  • Here are some of the helpers who rose so fiercely to the grievous occasion.
    — Karen Valby, Vanity Fair, 16 June 2026
  • But a first-round loss followed in the first seven of those occasions.
    — Brian Hall, Twin Cities, 5 Feb. 2026
  • Benson has opened up about her bond with Olive on many occasions.
    — Angel Saunders, PEOPLE, 9 June 2026
  • On more than one occasion, a view reduced me to laughter.
    — Alice Gregory, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Feb. 2026
  • Harper was the only one who rose to the occasion.
    — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 18 Mar. 2026
  • Also, how to find and choose the best oysters for any occasion.
    — Bridget Shirvell, Martha Stewart, 9 June 2026
  • On one occasion, a blunt-nosed viper misjudged the distance to its prey.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 23 Oct. 2025
  • White wore a white bridal gown dripping in pearls for the special occasion.
    — Emma Banks, InStyle, 21 Jan. 2026
  • These big games, everybody stepped up to the occasion so far.
    — CBS News, 17 June 2026
  • Get out and meet friends for coffee, lunch, dinner or any occasion.
    — Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 23 Jan. 2026
  • Willow donned a red gown for the occasion, while her mom shined in a strapless black dress.
    — Emma Banks, InStyle, 27 Feb. 2026
  • This Thursday, our city will rise to the occasion.
    — ABC News, 17 June 2026

occasion

2 of 2 verb
  • Those three things could occasion hours of discussion — and many books.
    — Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 16 Mar. 2023
  • That occasioned the steroids and probably caused the stroke.
    — Stephen King, The Atlantic, 15 May 2026
  • The fifth shot always occasioned the strangest of the reactions.
    — Arna Bontemps Hemenway, The Atlantic, 19 July 2019
  • The horoscope question in the poll was occasioned by the death of Don Larsen.
    — The Washington Post, 7 Jan. 2020
  • Every visit to a friend's house, the market or workplace occasioned a walk.
    — Dan Buettner, CNN, 3 Dec. 2019
  • Agis falls in love with Léonide right through her boy disguise, which occasions a rather awkward embrace.
    — John Timpane, Philly.com, 11 May 2018
  • And pulled it off more smoothly, without the staging longueurs occasioned by the rough text and the stop-and-go direction?
    — Jesse Green, New York Times, 28 Feb. 2023
  • Shuffling off this mortal coil need not occasion grief, however.
    — Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 27 Feb. 2026
  • But the presidency has also occasioned a whole new set of disputes.
    — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 5 May 2017
  • Nor is the joy occasioned only by a Labour loss worse than at any other point since 1935.
    — Douglas Murray, National Review, 19 Dec. 2019
  • But her observations of him occasion some of the novel’s sharpest insights.
    — Andrew Martin, Harper's Magazine, 15 Sep. 2020
  • The rankings are based on a three-year average, which smooths out spikes and dips occasioned by big events such as war or financial downturns.
    — Jeanne Bonner, CNN Money, 19 Mar. 2026
  • But the war has also occasioned one of the most intense disinformation campaigns.
    — Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, The New York Review of Books, 10 June 2019
  • The Crimson Tide is on an historic run of championships, but that doesn't mean that a team can occasion jump up and crash the party.
    — Creg Stephenson, AL.com, 3 June 2017
  • This has given rise to the high premiums on cash and also occasioned heavy discounts for cash purchases in retail outlets.
    — Farai Shawn Matiashe, Quartz Africa, 3 Oct. 2019
  • The ex-royal couple have enough wit to understand that their own hardships don’t occasion many tears outside their lachrymose celebrity friends.
    — Gerard Baker, WSJ, 8 Mar. 2021
  • But the loss in Ohio does occasion a clear-eyed assessment of the challenges the pro-life movement faces now and what will likely be a long battle ahead.
    — The Editors, National Review, 8 Nov. 2023
  • Feldman’s thought-provoking case for a stark rupture in Union war aims will surely occasion lively debate.
    — Washington Post, 12 Nov. 2021
  • But the economic boom of the 1950s occasioned a new freedom in Italian art.
    — Jason Farago, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2018
  • Rosen was traded to the Dolphins a few days later, occasioning many jokes about Jews and South Beach.
    — Rich Cohen, Harper's magazine, 19 Aug. 2019
  • Whatever Greene or Gosar is saying or doing at the moment doesn't occasion much chatter in their districts.
    — Chris Cillizza, CNN, 31 Mar. 2022
  • The article occasioned a slight back-and-forth between policy gurus on Twitter.
    — Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 16 Aug. 2019
  • The series also occasioned a giddy reunion with Pinkett Smith.
    — Emily Lordi, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2023
  • The rule changes occasion a massive change in the operation of the Wisconsin Court system.
    — Jack Kelly and Matthew Defour, Journal Sentinel, 30 Aug. 2023
  • But the idea of a spontaneous snap occasioned by losses is hard to reconcile with the extensive preparation that the massacre required.
    — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 3 Oct. 2017
  • The casting of new pro Jan Ravnik for the recent season 34 occasioned a classic Maks-ism that harkened back to his time on the show.
    — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Dec. 2025
  • The casting of Noma Dumezweni, a black actress, to play Hermione occasioned some discussion in Britain.
    — New York Times, 24 May 2018
  • Too bad if the 911 calls were occasioned by domestic violence or, in one case Desmond recounts, a child’s asthma attack.
    — Barbara Ehrenreich, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2016
  • And in 2016, Hillary Clinton’s campaign occasioned a vast wave of celebrity content.
    — New York Times, 11 Sep. 2019
  • The existence of Ross’s book and others like it — and the brutal events that occasion them — suggest the attainment of that goal is still more than 20 years away.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 1 July 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'occasion.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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