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

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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

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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

Strong demand for new models based on the firm's Neue Klasse platform meanwhile meant the company would incur charges to bring in extra shifts, it said.

From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2026

The company expects to incur one-time charges that will be quantified at a later date.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

Speedier installations shorten the period during which customers incur data center expenses without generating revenue.

From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026

The proposition also could incur additional costs for state and local governments depending on the attorney general’s interpretation of what constitutes program expenses.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Some real estate agents worry that the hyper-rich will resent the tax, but so far wealthy homebuilders seem to regard it as a pittance compared with the other costs they incur.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

If LA28 incurs massive financial losses, the city would cover the first $270 million.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

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

The key drawback to the strategy is that selling the stock incurs a capital gain, and few investors like paying capital-gains taxes, even if it makes sense from a risk-management perspective.

From Barron's ● Apr. 29, 2026

The company is continuing to face margin pressure as it works on turnaround-related investments and incurs more tariff costs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 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

In a civil case such as this, the legal convention is that the losing party must reimburse "reasonable" legal fees incurred by the other side.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

The commitments include approximately $447.5 billion expected to be incurred before the end of 2030; substantially all the rest is likely to hit between 2031 and 2045.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026

Wallace wrote reimbursement checks to herself, claiming they were repayments for expenses she never incurred.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026

That’s up from the 8% those transactions previously incurred when treated as ordinary orders on ByteDance’s Douyin video app.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026

It appeared that he had only stung the leg, not incurred a deeper injury.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Ben says he's reached an agreement to pause the interest on most of it, but he is still incurring charges on around £2,000 of credit card debt and is worried about his repayments going up.

From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2026

Three major airlines -- JetBlue, United and American -- issued travel alerts allowing passengers to change their flights without incurring fees.

From Barron's ● Sep. 25, 2026

Despite his efforts to avoid incurring the wrath of Uncle Sam, Marset eventually came into the crosshairs of the DEA.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026

So you could give them assets now, and they could turn around and sell the assets without incurring much if anything in taxes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

Moreover, he need not worry about incurring the infamy of those vices without which it would be difficult to save the state.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli

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Related Words

• acquire
• arouse
• earn
• obtain
• provoke

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