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

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Etymology

Origin of recur

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

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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

As the crowd filed out of the Herzog, one reaction seemed to recur more than any other: “That was wild.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026

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

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026

Long-simmering frustration over the state's lack of accountability created the conditions for this "implosion", he told the BBC, adding that the architecture of social media makes such eruptions likely to recur.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

These changes do not always mean cancer is present, but they should be evaluated if they continue or recur.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026

People stopped sleeping in their houses, terrified at the thought that such a disaster could recur, improvising tents in open spaces or sleeping in the middle of squares and streets.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende

The avatar recurs throughout the film, speaking words drawn from Musk’s interviews and public appearances.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

This cycle recurs across cultures, but few embody it as vividly as the Celts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026

It's a theme that recurs on subsequent tracks - perhaps suggesting that BTS were wary about dipping their toes back into the choppy waters of fame.

From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● Jan. 7, 2026

Thus throughout history a struggle which is the same in its main outlines recurs over and over again.

From "1984" by George Orwell

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

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

It’s a thematic mix that has recurred, at varying intensities, throughout Lemon’s influential but branding-resistant career.

From New York Times ● Nov. 15, 2024

Since then, those diseases have recurred only in discrete communities where vaccine resistance reigns, and among the unvaccinated.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2023

Finally, Sequoyah realized that words were made up of modest numbers of different sound bites that recurred in many different words—what we would call syllables.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

On the one hand holding back growth are the familiar, recurring crises from the energy shock, trade conflict and actual war.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

But as Ohtani battled nagging pain in his left knee and a recurring problem with his right biceps, the team didn’t shut down his attempts to return to pitching until the end of August.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Its initiatives to build recurring collections and rising contributions from Arun and Ari asset management companies are likely to take longer to offset lower income from large non-performing-loan and non-performing-asset settlements.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

He wrote that most investors are looking to see upward of $80 billion in annual recurring revenue from Anthropic.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

Each untimely end came draped in its own shroud of dread, like a recurring nightmare that never lost its potency.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

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Related Words

• persist
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