recurrent
rih-KUR-uhnt
/rɪˈkʌrənt/
Occurring often or repeatedly.
Focuses on the fact that something has happened before and is likely to happen again.
The story behind the word. From Latin 're-' (back) and 'currere' (to run). It describes something that 'runs back' to the beginning to start over again.
Word relationships
- recurring: Recurring is the present participle used as an adjective; recurrent is the formal adjective form.
- repetitive: Repetitive often implies boredom or monotony, while recurrent is more neutral.
- unique: Something that happens only once.
- isolated: An event that is not part of a pattern.
Commonly confused with
- concurrent: Concurrent means happening at the same time; recurrent means happening again and again.
Word family
- recurrent (adjective): Happening repeatedly.
- recurrence (noun): The act of happening again.
- recur (verb): To happen again.
Collocations
- recurrent theme
- recurrent problem
- recurrent nightmare
- recurrent costs
Example sentences
- "Recurrent dreams of falling often indicate a feeling of insecurity in one's waking life." A psychological observation by Freud.
- "Loss of innocence is a recurrent theme in 20th-century American literature." Describing a literary motif.
Memory hook
Think of a 'Current' in a river that circles back—it is 're-current'. Recurrent runs back.
When not to use
Do not use for things that never stop; use 'perpetual' or 'incessant'.
Fun facts
- In mathematics, a 'recurrent' sequence is one where each term is defined as a function of the preceding terms.
Explore more words
continual, chronic, continually, perennial, intermittent, subsequent
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