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

The suit will claim that federal agents lied about the incident and that the purpose of the government’s prosecution was to conceal agents’ behavior the day of the shooting.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

The Department said the incident was reported by a member of the public on Tuesday at 09:30 GMT.

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

In a separate incident, world number one Elena Rybakina appeared to have an angry exchange with her coach before a practice session with Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova.

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

The attacks followed a similar incident in mid-October, when a hack disrupted the refrigeration systems of some 700 French supermarkets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026

I think maybe the compass incident, the disaster he had so nearly brought upon us that day, had changed him, made him more aware of other people.

From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo

The Northern Ireland Troubles Bill replaces the previous Conservative government's contentious 2023 Legacy Act, which introduced a ban on inquests and civil actions related to Troubles-era incidents.

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

There have been 26 reported incidents in the kingdom in recent days alone, according to Acled.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026

Hoaxes can also come from copycats, he said, but "three days of incidents is too small a sample to separate coordination from contagion".

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander described Thursday's incidents as "malicious hoax threats."

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

About a week subsequently to the incidents above narrated, Miss Temple, who had written to Mr. Lloyd, received his answer: it appeared that what he said went to corroborate my account.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

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Related Words

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

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