Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of recurrence
Explanation
If something is happening yet again, there's a recurrence of it. Most sports fans hope there isn't a recurrence of last year's losing season. If you keep getting a hacking cough, then you're having a recurrence — that cough just keeps coming back. The word recurrence has to do with things that repeat or return, often at predictable times. If your dog barks at the same time every day, your neighbors might complain about the recurrence of noise. A note on using this word: reoccurrence means basically the same thing, but recurrence is considered a more stylish choice.
Vocabulary lists containing recurrence
"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce
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"Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving
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Vocabulary from Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points" (1918)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“That does not mean we are cured. We are still in jeopardy of recurrence and require careful continuity of care monitoring by our out-of-state specialist.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
A key reason the therapy has not been rolled out more widely to date is concern about long-term survival and whether treating only part of the prostate might lead to higher recurrence.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
But COVID’s novelty gave the team the data it needed to track the effects of viral inflammation on cancer recurrence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026
Kiger said her priority is implementing policies to prevent a recurrence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
He also had a recurrence of malaria that gave him fevers lasting weeks.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
The aim is to destroy cancers and prevent recurrences.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 16, 2025
After a single treatment with the anti-TRBC1-SG3249 ADC combination, investigators observed signs of cancer elimination within seven days and the cancers were eventually undetectable, with no recurrences.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 2, 2024
Abalkina refers to the company’s inability to prevent such recurrences as “whack-a-mole.”
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 5, 2023
Its emotional match may be Evangelista's determination to reclaim her career after surviving a financially devastating divorce, recurrences of cancer and permanent disfigurement related to a cosmetic procedure.
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2023
Multiple recurrences of the disease kept his heart weak and his health precarious.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
