Meanings
present singular third person rises to the occasion · participle present rising to the occasion · past rose to the occasion · participle past risen to the occasion
- idiomaticTo show resolve or effectiveness in dealing with a difficulty.
As it happened, this particular ordeal was exceedingly severe, but nothing can excuse the absolute failure of the troops concerned to rise to the occasion.
1902, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 38, in The Great Boer War2 more examples
Gabriel, though one of the quietest and most gentle men on earth, rose to the occasion, with martial promptness and vigour. "That's my fist. . . . Now — the first man in the parish that I hear prophesying bad of our mistress, why" (here the fist was raised and let fall as Thor might have done with his hammer in assaying it) — "he'll smell and taste that."
1874, Thomas Hardy, chapter 15, in Far from the Madding CrowdHow many times have we heard this story? The one about people rising to the occasion, storming the cockpit of the hijacked jet, racing into the burning building, tackling the gunman, saving a life.
2011 January 10, David Von Drehle, “The Real Lesson of the Tucson Tragedy”, in Time, retrieved 09 May 2015Synonyms: rise to the challenge
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo show resolve or effectiveness in dealing with a difficulty.
Translations
Finnish nousta tilanteen tasalle
- nousta tilanteen tasalleto show resolve or effectiveness in dealing with a difficulty
French se montrer à la hauteur
- se montrer à la hauteurto show resolve or effectiveness in dealing with a difficulty
German den Anforderungen gewachsen sein, sich den Umständen gewachsen zeigen
- den Anforderungen gewachsen seinto show resolve or effectiveness in dealing with a difficulty
- sich den Umständen gewachsen zeigento show resolve or effectiveness in dealing with a difficulty
- sich der Lage gewachsen zeigento show resolve or effectiveness in dealing with a difficulty
- sich der Situation gewachsen zeigento show resolve or effectiveness in dealing with a difficulty
Polish stać na wysokości zadania, stanąć na wysokości zadania
- stać na wysokości zadaniato show resolve or effectiveness in dealing with a difficulty
- stanąć na wysokości zadaniato show resolve or effectiveness in dealing with a difficulty
Cite this entry
rise to the occasion. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rise%20to%20the%20occasion
“rise to the occasion.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rise%20to%20the%20occasion. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rise to the occasion,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rise%20to%20the%20occasion.
Source: rise to the occasion on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.