incur

American  

[in-kur] / ɪnˈkɜr /

verb (used with object)

incurred, incurring

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

• incurrable
  adjective
• reincur
  verb (used with object)

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

Intuit said it will close its offices in Reno and Woodland Hills and incur an estimated $300 million to $340 million in restructuring charges.

From Los Angeles Times • May 22, 2026

And now a warning: you will soon be entering the withdrawal phase of your retirement having made a humdinger of your accumulation phase, and that will incur taxes.

From MarketWatch • May 21, 2026

Their reunion has as much to teach both of them as it does the audience, bringing this story a strikingly beautiful new resonance that it could only incur with time.

From Salon • May 1, 2026

IAC projects it will incur about $14 million in severance and related expenses, plus roughly $48 million in noncash stock-based compensation costs and up to about $1 million in other costs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026

But Chen wanted to incur thunderbolts during drought.

From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston

Related Words

• acquire
• arouse
• earn
• obtain
• provoke