out-of-pocket

[out-uhv-pok-it]

adjective

1. 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.

2. without funds or assets.

   an out-of-pocket student who stayed with us.

out of pocket

adjective

1. (postpositive) having lost money, as in a commercial enterprise

2. without money to spend

3. (prenominal) (of expenses) unbudgeted and paid for in cash

Word History and Origins

Origin of out-of-pocket¹

First recorded in 1880–85

Idioms and Phrases

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]

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]

Example Sentences

Also, Medicare members now have a $2,000 annual cap on out-of-pocket drug costs.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Epstein also paid out-of-pocket for perks such as covering extra healthcare expenses and children’s education.

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“Do we downgrade our coverage and risk higher out-of-pocket expenses if something goes wrong? Do we absorb the cost and slash other areas of our budget?”

Read more on Salon

The pandemic-era enhanced credit further cut out-of-pocket costs, paying more along the sliding scale and also also temporarily lifting the credit’s income cutoff, also known as the subsidy cliff.

Read more on MarketWatch

Patients must pay for their treatment with insurance or out-of-pocket costs, but referrals smooth their way.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• amount 
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• spending www.thesaurus.com