Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of recurrence
Explanation
If something is happening yet again, there's a recurrence of it. Most sports fans hope there isn't a recurrence of last year's losing season. If you keep getting a hacking cough, then you're having a recurrence — that cough just keeps coming back. The word recurrence has to do with things that repeat or return, often at predictable times. If your dog barks at the same time every day, your neighbors might complain about the recurrence of noise. A note on using this word: reoccurrence means basically the same thing, but recurrence is considered a more stylish choice.
Vocabulary lists containing recurrence
"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce
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"Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving
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Vocabulary from Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points" (1918)
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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.
See Examples For:
While the trial data will be shared at a coming conference, the companies said patients given the personalized vaccine alongside Merck’s Keytruda were significantly less likely to experience melanoma recurrence than those on Keytruda alone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Early on Wednesday, Moderna and Merck surprised investors when the two companies announced that their experimental therapeutic vaccine, which pairs Moderna’s intismeran autogene with Merck’s Keytruda, helped prevent the recurrence of melanoma in certain patients.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
It is also not yet known whether the recurrence rate will increase over a longer period, for example three years, Gerlinger said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
A hysterectomy alongside removal of endometriosis can reduce the risk of recurrence, according to Endometriosis UK, external.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
Obviously I knew even before his recurrence that I’d never grow old with Augustus Waters.
From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green
He advised each of the last seven U.S. presidents on new viral epidemics faced by the world, including multiple recurrences of Ebola, HIV/AIDS, Sars-CoV-1, H1N1 Influenza, Zika and then Sars-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
"FMT is a safe and effective treatment with enough scientific evidence to offered to most patients with two or more C. diff recurrences."
From Science Daily ● Feb. 21, 2024
Abalkina refers to the company’s inability to prevent such recurrences as “whack-a-mole.”
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 5, 2023
Its emotional match may be Evangelista's determination to reclaim her career after surviving a financially devastating divorce, recurrences of cancer and permanent disfigurement related to a cosmetic procedure.
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2023
Multiple recurrences of the disease kept his heart weak and his health precarious.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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.
