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.
It lowers out-of-pocket costs and expands the addressable market for fertility treatment, even if total births remain depressed.
From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026
If paying out-of-pocket, the scans typically cost about $75 to $200, says Blaha, although they are increasingly covered by insurance.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026
Most people who remained in ACA plans reported larger out-of-pocket healthcare expenses, including higher copays or deductibles.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026
If you use those sites, bear in mind that the purchase won’t count toward a Medicare drug plan’s annual deductible or the $2,100 out-of-pocket cap.
From Barron's • Mar. 5, 2026
The advantage to the railway conducted under private management may be defined to be the excess of receipts from the traffic over the out-of-pocket expenses actually incurred in handling the traffic.
From The Development of Rates of Postage An Historical and Analytical Study by Smith, A. D.
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.
