incident

American  

[in-si-duhnt] / ˈɪn sɪ dənt /

noun

• incidents
  plural

1. an individual occurrence or event.

   Synonyms:

   happening

2. a distinct piece of action, or an episode, as in a story or play.

3. something that occurs casually in connection with something else.

4. something appertaining or attaching to something else.

5. an occurrence of seemingly minor importance, especially involving nations or factions between which relations are strained and sensitive, that can lead to serious consequences, as an outbreak of hostilities or a war.

   border incident; international incident.

6. an embarrassing occurrence, especially of a social nature.

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adjective

1. likely or apt to happen (usually followed byto ).

2. naturally appertaining.

   hardships incident to the life of an explorer.

3. conjoined or attaching, especially as subordinate to a principal thing.

4. falling or striking on something, as light rays.

incident British  

/ ˈɪnsɪdənt /

noun

1. a distinct or definite occurrence; event

2. a minor, subsidiary, or related event or action

3. a relatively insignificant event that might have serious consequences, esp in international politics

4. a public disturbance

   the police had reports of an incident outside a pub

5. the occurrence of something interesting or exciting

   the trip was not without incident

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adjective

1. related (to) or dependent (on)

2. having a subsidiary or minor relationship (with)

3. (esp of a beam of light or particles) arriving at or striking a surface

   incident electrons

Synonym Usage

See event.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonincident
  noun
• incidentless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• incidents
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of incident

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Middle French, from Medieval Latin incident- (stem of incidēns “a happening,” noun use of present participle of Latin verb incidere “to fall upon, befall”), equivalent to Latin in- in- ² + -cid- (combining form of cad- “fall”) + -ent- -ent; see cadenza

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Explanation

An incident refers to a particular happening, sometimes criminal but always noteworthy. If there was a food fight in the cafeteria, an e-mail might be sent to the parents of all students telling of the incident at school. The word incident is quite vague. It can refer to a humorous occurrence or a violent one, something that disturbed one's routine or something unusual that happened. If a child screams in a library, it's not that unusual, but if an adult does, that's an incident! As an adjective, incident is used in the field of physics to describe particles or radiation that fall on a surface. The incident light showed how dirty the windows were.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

incident incidents

“Be cautious of unexpected emails, phone calls, or text messages” related to the incident, including claims that the caller is from ETS or the state or a credit monitoring company, officials also warned.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

The BBC can confirm German detectives are now including the incident in their investigation into the detained Russian and his associates.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

A cybersecurity incident at BAE Systems has halted the federal bankruptcy-noticing system since October 9.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

James Bradford, operations director at Bryn Yr Haul nursing home, said the team there was "deeply saddened by this incident" and "extend our sincere apologies to everyone affected".

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

I don’t know if I could ever bring myself to wear the dashiki out someplace public, especially after the Elijah incident.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

The question has grown more urgent after recent revelations of security incidents involving autonomous AI agents.

From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026

Authorities said city-owned “rapelling equipment was allegedly used” during the incidents and displayed online, according to a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

For a further 18 incidents it was unclear if the investigation has been concluded.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

Unless of course he’s imagined the unnerving incidents, or Sid has orchestrated them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

“Do you think that the curfew the mayor announced today will prevent incidents like this?” the reporter asks Mr. Lewis.

From "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas

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Related Words

• circumstance
• episode
• event
• fact
• matter
• scene

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