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.
without funds or assets.
an out-of-pocket student who stayed with us.
(postpositive) having lost money, as in a commercial enterprise
without money to spend
(prenominal) (of expenses) unbudgeted and paid for in cash
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]
First recorded in 1880–85
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The weight-loss drugs come with a $50 monthly copay that doesn’t count toward the plan’s deductible or out-of-pocket limit.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 30, 2026
The offer includes more training jobs, faster pay progression and a plan to cover out-of-pocket expenses like exam fees.
From BBC • Jun. 29, 2026
The couple pay about $700 out-of-pocket for four weeks of Wegovy for their two sons.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 22, 2026
Higher out-of-pocket expenses can strain household finances, discourage preventive medical care, and increase stress, anxiety, and medical debt, according to the authors.
From Science Daily • Jun. 14, 2026
Meeson's content with ten per cent, and out-of-pocket expenses, when an author—a mere author—gets sixty!
From Mr. Meeson's Will 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.
