recur
Americanverb (used without object)
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to occur again, as an event, experience, etc.
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to return to the mind.
The idea kept recurring.
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to come up again for consideration, as a question.
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to have recourse.
verb
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to happen again, esp at regular intervals
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(of a thought, idea, etc) to come back to the mind
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(of a problem, etc) to come up again
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maths (of a digit or group of digits) to be repeated an infinite number of times at the end of a decimal fraction
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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recursimple
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recurssimple
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have recurredperfect
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has recurredperfect
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am recurringprogressive
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are recurringprogressive
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is recurringprogressive
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have been recurringperfect progressive
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has been recurringperfect progressive
Past
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recurredsimple
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had recurredperfect
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was recurringprogressive
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were recurringprogressive
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had been recurringperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing recur
The Outsiders
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Make a Run for It: Cur, Curs
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Power Prefix: re-
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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.
Tillmans’ interest in stargazing goes back to his adolescence, and images of the moon and cosmos recur in his work.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 17, 2026
Even if there is another pandemic, this mess won’t recur.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 2026
Stella said he did not expect the problem to recur at this weekend's Qatar Grand Prix.
From BBC • Nov. 27, 2025
It is classified as high risk when tumors are more likely to recur or spread into the bladder's muscle layer or to other areas of the body.
From Science Daily • Nov. 11, 2025
So frequently do these acts recur that when I was halfway through the first draft of Native Son a case paralleling Bigger’s flared forth in the newspapers of Chicago.
From "Native Son" by Richard Wright
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.
