out-of-pocket
Americanadjective
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paid out in cash or from one's own financial resources and sometimes reimbursed.
My out-of-pocket travel expenses included taking business clients to dinner.
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without funds or assets.
an out-of-pocket student who stayed with us.
adjective
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(postpositive) having lost money, as in a commercial enterprise
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without money to spend
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(prenominal) (of expenses) unbudgeted and paid for in cash
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Lacking money; also, having suffered a financial loss, as in We can't go; I'm out of pocket right now . William Congreve had it in The Old Bachelor (1693): “But egad, I'm a little out of pocket at present.” [Late 1600s]
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Referring to actual money spent, as in I had to pay the hotel bill out of pocket, but I know I'll be reimbursed . This expression sometimes occurs as a hyphenated adjective mainly in the phrase out-of-pocket expenses , as in My out-of-pocket expenses for business travel amounted to more than a thousand dollars . [Late 1800s]
Etymology
Origin of out-of-pocket
First recorded in 1880–85
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.
Alongside the pay rises they have had, the government also said it would expand training places and cover out-of-pocket expenses such as exam fees.
From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026
Patient out-of-pocket costs for GLP-1s fell to $119.
From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026
“A third party that agreed to pay his legal fees and costs has refused to pay, leaving Kay’s current counsel with more than $130,000 in unpaid fees and out-of-pocket expenses,” Gerger wrote.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2026
Factoring in rent from the tenant, our out-of-pocket costs for the mortgage would be $4,000 per month.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026
Of course, where well-to-do people are concerned, it expects that its out-of-pocket costs will be met.
From Regeneration by Haggard, Henry Rider
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.
