out-of-pocket
adjective
paid out in cash or from one's own financial resources and sometimes reimbursed.
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out-of-pocket
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out of pocket
out of pocketadjective(postpositive) having lost money, as in a commercial enterprise
out-of-pocket
American
[out-uhv-pok-it]
/ ˈaʊt əvˈpɒk ɪt /
adjective
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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.
out of pocket
British
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
out of pocket
Idioms
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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.
See Examples For:
“The out-of-pocket court costs of a New York eviction are relatively modest: typically a filing fee, process-server fees, and the sheriff’s or marshal’s fee for the lockout,” Sirianni says.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026
Not only is doing all this good for me physically, but it restrains my out-of-pocket medical costs and makes me better able to play with my grandkids.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 23, 2026
Losing her health insurance forces her to swallow the hefty out-of-pocket cost of medical procedures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Seniors who enroll in traditional Medicare fee-for-service also have a $1,736 deductible for inpatient hospital care, steep cost-sharing requirements and no limit on out-of-pocket spending.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
The idea behind chadai is that the inn-keeper charges only his out-of-pocket expenses and that therefore the guest naturally desires to requite him.
From The Foundations of Japan Notes Made During Journeys Of 6,000 Miles In The Rural Districts As A Basis For A Sounder Knowledge Of The Japanese People by J.W. Robertson Scott
AFT’s back-to-school resolution notes that teachers spend an average of $895 a year out of pocket on school-related supplies, totaling about $3.4 billion nationwide.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
When someone else is at fault for an automobile accident, Medicare will pay your accident-related medical bills in the first instance so you’re not out of pocket.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
Since his home insurance fell short of covering the cost, he will have to pay for much of the project out of pocket.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
Wildberries has also reimbursed the losses of some small businesses, although many say they are still out of pocket.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
In fact, by their calculations, the Free African Society was out of pocket at least $500.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
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.
