Meaning of occasion in English

occasion

noun [ C ]

/əˈkeɪ.ʒən/ us

/əˈkeɪ.ʒən/

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a particular time, especially when something happens or has happened:

We met on several occasions to discuss the issue.

I've heard him be rude to her on a number of occasions.

on that occasion I seem to remember that on that occasion he was with his wife.

a special or formal event:

quite an occasion Sara's party was quite an occasion - there were over a hundred people there.

for the occasion At the wedding he sang a song specially written for the occasion.

on special occasions I have a suit but I only wear it on special occasions.

historic occasion The coronation of a new king is, of course, a historic occasion.

on the occasion of Congratulations on the occasion of your wedding anniversary.

formal

an opportunity or reason for doing something or for something to happen:

occasion for The 200th anniversary of Mozart's death was the occasion for hundreds of special films, books and concerts.

occasion arises An occasion may arise when you can use your knowledge of French.

take the occasion The bride took the occasion to make a short speech.

use the occasion When he received the award, he used the occasion to pay tribute to his former mentor.

on occasion

sometimes, but not often:

He has, on occasion, made some small mistakes.

More examplesFewer examples

I'd like to thank everyone concerned for making the occasion run so smoothly.
Is this an appropriate occasion to discuss finance?
The funeral was a sombre occasion.
As it was such a special occasion, she permitted herself a small glass of champagne.
Her dress was too showy for such a formal occasion.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Points in time

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Celebrations, parties & special occasions

Events and occurrences

Opportunity

Idiom

have occasion to do something

occasion

verb [ T ]

formal

/əˈkeɪ.ʒən/ us

/əˈkeɪ.ʒən/

to cause something:

Her refusal occasioned a lot of trouble.

[ + two objects ] The case occasioned the authorities a lot of worry/The authorities were occasioned a lot of worry by the case.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Causing things to happen

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(Definition of occasion from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

occasion | American Dictionary

occasion

noun

/əˈkeɪ·ʒən/

occasion noun (PARTICULAR TIME)

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[ C ]

a particular time when something happens:

Sarah loves dressing up for special occasions.

She has lied on several occasions.

This meeting provides an occasion (= a suitable time) to discuss the issues facing our school.

occasion noun (REASON)

[ U ]

a reason or cause:

I’ve never had occasion to worry about my children’s school work.

Idiom

on occasion

(Definition of occasion from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of occasion

occasion

Instead, they appeared on occasion to recompute the phonetic elements, producing a new erroneous version.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

During the entire post-war period there are only five occasions (1950, 1951, 1955, 1964 and 1997) in which the parties leapfrog each other.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The occasion marked the official return to the past.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

On both occasions, seeds were collected from a minimum of 25 trees.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

It is bewildering to observe the same individual treating certain persons or groups altruistically on one occasion, but indifferently on another.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

On both occasions, multimorbidity (presence of more than one condition) accounted for a quarter of the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

A social scientist who makes generalized claims is more likely to be prepared to advise on any occasion.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Significant differences were seen between the study and control groups in the social domain on the second and third occasions.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

On the rare occasions where we present definitions out of sequence, we will explain what we are doing.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

As demonstrated in the example, any festival, whatever its proclaimed and ostensible focus and aims, is clearly and inevitably a complex occasion.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The series was a blend of traditional studio scenes and location filming, which was no longer a luxury for special occasions.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Furthermore, these models were used to systematically test the significance of occasion-, informant-, and trait-specific effects.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

On many occasions attempts have been made to explain differences in fertility levels between different populations in terms of different breastfeeding practices.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The use of contraceptives was common on the first occasion of intercourse with nearly half of the women relying on the sheath.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Within these jurisdictions, the occasions of liability and the scope of damages have been significantly restricted.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.