incur

American  

[in-kur] / ɪnˈkɜr /

verb (used with object)

• incurs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• incurred,
  past participle,  past
• incurring
  present participle

1. to come into or acquire (some consequence, usually undesirable or injurious).

   to incur a huge number of debts.

2. to become liable or subject to through one's own action; bring or take upon oneself.

   to incur his displeasure.

   Synonyms:

   provoke, incite, arouse

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incur British  

/ ɪnˈkɜː /

verb

1. to make oneself subject to (something undesirable); bring upon oneself

2. to run into or encounter

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• reincur
  verb (used with object)
• incurrable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• incurring
  present
• incurred
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• incur
  simple
• incurs
  simple
• have incurred
  perfect
• has incurred
  perfect
• am incurring
  progressive
• are incurring
  progressive
• is incurring
  progressive
• have been incurring
  perfect progressive
• has been incurring
  perfect progressive

Past

• incurred
  simple
• had incurred
  perfect
• was incurring
  progressive
• were incurring
  progressive
• had been incurring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will incur
  simple
• will have incurred
  perfect
• will be incurring
  progressive
• will have been incurring
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of incur

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin incurrere “to run into, come upon,” equivalent to in- in- ² + currere “to run”; see current

Explanation

To incur is to get or receive — and usually it's something you brought upon yourself. If you don't pay your credit card bills on time, you'll likely incur lots of fees and some serious debt. Generally, when you incur something, that something is undesirable. You can incur penalties, expenses, a parking ticket, or a friend’s wrath, for example. But it's pretty unlikely that you'd incur free tickets to the World Series. Frederick Douglass once famously said, “I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

incur incurs incurred incurring

Even if the tariff money were specifically directed at debt service, it wouldn’t have done much to defray the roughly $1 trillion in interest the government will incur this year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Each stage of that process will incur expenses such as transport and storage, and rising costs at any step could end up in the product you buy being more expensive.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Boston Scientific plans to lay off staff and incur $700 million to $800 million in charges under a restructuring plan to be completed by 2029.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

The divestiture of MSBC, which made up less than 2% of the company’s annual revenue, is expected to incur between $37 million and $39 million in non-cash charges during the current fiscal fourth quarter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

Farmers grab a few harvests, but the soil is not bared to rain and sun long enough to incur permanent damage.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Encrypting and decrypting your traffic as you go about your online business incurs a cost, resulting in a speed hit on your connection.

From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026

CDs are typically less flexible because withdrawing funds before maturity often incurs a penalty.

From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026

The sale helps Occidental reduce its net debt but eliminates a diversifying asset and incurs a significant $1.7 billion tax bite.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2025

The regulations state: "A team will have one point deducted from its points total for each penalty over it incurs."

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2025

Also, even if a dangler is in no danger of being misinterpreted, enough readers have trained themselves to spot danglers that a writer who leaves it incurs the risk of being judged as slovenly.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

He’d incurred the wrath of Al Davis in a disastrous stint as the Oakland Raiders’ coach.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

There is no time limit on reimbursements, so the expenses can be decades old, as long as they were incurred after the HSA was opened.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026

In May, Meta settled for an undisclosed amount with a school district that had sued it for negatively impacting students, so much so that schools incurred costs related to student welfare.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

But in the letter to GKN executives, the county argued that the donation did not absolve the company of liability or of costs incurred by taxpayers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026

The following year, Robert returned to England at the age of 17, not only penniless but honour-bound to repay the expenses his tutor had incurred for him in Geneva and assisting with his journey home.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin

Leopold Aschenbrenner’s hedge-fund firm Situational Awareness is down around 67% so far in July after incurring heavy losses on AI stocks, according to a person who saw a letter the firm sent to investors Thursday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

Rather than send wheat to Minneapolis to be processed, incurring high transportation costs, farmers and the state banded together to form the North Dakota Mill, the only state-owned mill in the United States.

From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026

However, for most people, paying a 6.6% mortgage rate is less costly than incurring the substantial taxes associated with a $500,000 lump-sum IRA withdrawal.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026

You don’t want to look back later and kick yourself for deferring your taxes but incurring poor returns.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

Finally, horses could break down, racing’s euphemism for incurring leg injuries.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Related Words

• acquire
• arouse
• earn
• obtain
• provoke