recur

American  

[ri-kur] / rɪˈkɜr /

verb (used without object)

• recurs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• recurred,
  past participle,  past
• recurring
  present participle

1. to occur again, as an event, experience, etc.

2. to return to the mind.

   The idea kept recurring.

3. to come up again for consideration, as a question.

4. to have recourse.

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recur British  

/ rɪˈkɜː /

verb

1. to happen again, esp at regular intervals

2. (of a thought, idea, etc) to come back to the mind

3. (of a problem, etc) to come up again

4. maths (of a digit or group of digits) to be repeated an infinite number of times at the end of a decimal fraction

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• recurring
  adjective
• recurringly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• recurring
  present
• recurred
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• recur
  simple
• recurs
  simple
• have recurred
  perfect
• has recurred
  perfect
• am recurring
  progressive
• are recurring
  progressive
• is recurring
  progressive
• have been recurring
  perfect progressive
• has been recurring
  perfect progressive

Past

• recurred
  simple
• had recurred
  perfect
• was recurring
  progressive
• were recurring
  progressive
• had been recurring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will recur
  simple
• will have recurred
  perfect
• will be recurring
  progressive
• will have been recurring
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of recur

1610–20; earlier: to recede < Latin recurrere to run back, equivalent to re- re- + currere to run

Explanation

Have you ever had the same crazy dream night after night? If so, you know that dreams can recur, meaning they repeat, or happen again. The verb recur is used to describe something that happens over and over, whether it’s an injury, an argument, or a character who pops up from time to time on a television show. Recur often describes an event that happens repeatedly, but it can also be used to describe something, such as an image or a memory, that for some reason just keeps popping back up in your mind, like self-doubt that recurs every time you worry about something.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

recur recurs recurred recurring

Add up the money, gasoline and vacation days spent on something we know will recur somewhere on Earth whether or not we show up, and the absurdity is plain.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

But “Kiki” holds several themes that recur in Miyazaki’s work.

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026

“I got the audition last year, about April,” Callan recalled, “just to recur. And I said, ‘This is silly, they’re not going to cast a Los Angeles actor to go recur in Massachusetts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

While it can cause painful blisters or ulcers that recur over time, it can lay dormant with most people having no symptoms - and Helen never had a cold sore herself.

From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2026

It has been suggested that the major ice ages on our planet, which recur every hundred million years or so, may be due to the interposition of interstellar matter between the Sun and the Earth.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Triple-negative breast cancer recurs and spreads after an average of around 2½ years, compared with five years for other breast cancers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

If the same pattern recurs, employment gains last month could be stronger than expected.

From MarketWatch ● Jan. 7, 2026

That conflict between “progress” and “tradition” has never been resolved, and recurs in every generation.

From Salon ● Dec. 7, 2025

This leads to a sudden reduction in downforce, so the car jumps up, only for the airflow to start working again, the car sucked back down until the same thing recurs.

From BBC ● Nov. 25, 2025

I have one dream that recurs far too often.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

Insurance company Allianz modeled how countries would fare if the five hottest years each experienced between 2014 and 2024 recurred in succession.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

So it's interesting that it recurred on the McLaren in Las Vegas.

From BBC ● Nov. 25, 2025

As someone who has always had a masochistic streak, finding out that these sequences of cars speeding down darkened paths recurred in Lynch’s other works both delighted and horrified me.

From Salon ● Jan. 25, 2025

I told him so when I recurred on The Odd Couple.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2023

Till this moment, I had been so intent on watching them, their appearance and conversation had excited in me so keen an interest, I had half-forgotten my own wretched position: now it recurred to me.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

Fan-favorite recurring guest host on “The FatFish Podcast.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

The irony is that, according to the newspaper’s own security team, Attiah herself had been a recurring target of threats and security monitoring since 2018, with dozens of threat assessments being sent to her.

From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026

The company, which has annual recurring revenue of about $350 million, is now looking to raise $500 million at a valuation of $15.5 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

Apples are by far the most widely harvested tree fruit in Germany, and the agency said the decline was due to "recurring heatwaves and persistent dry weather during the spring and summer of 2026".

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

Everything gives way before the recurring torment and festivity of passion.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Related Words

• persist
• reappear