recurrent
adjective
Did you know?
Recurrent vs. Recurring
Is there a difference between recurring and recurrent? As is so often the case with nearly identical words, the answer is "yes and no." Both words are most commonly used in the sense "happening time after time." But recurrent, the more commonly-used of the two, tends to appear more often in medical contexts, as in “recurrent fevers” or “recurrent cancer.” It also has a specialized anatomical sense, "running or turning back in a direction opposite to a former course,” as in “a recurrent artery,” that recurring does not share. There are certainly circumstances in which either recurrent or recurring could be used; pain or needs might be described as either recurrent or recurring. But even in such cases, there may be subtle differences which you may wish to pay attention to. Recurrent tends to suggest a coming back of something that has existed before, whereas recurring often implies simply a repeated occurrence.
Examples of recurrent in a Sentence
Newsweek Staff, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Apr. 2025
The dome is a recurrent motif in Vu’s practice and serves as a platform for projection mapping and a site for continuous immersive visitor engagement.
—Christina Mayo, Miami Herald, 2 Apr. 2025
Pilot training has six CRJ simulators and annually trains about 600 new pilots, 250 upgrading pilots and others who undergo recurrent training.
—Ted Reed, Forbes.com, 27 Mar. 2025
The recent Eaton and Palisades wildfires in Los Angeles County have refocused the public’s attention on the recurrent nature of vegetation burning and the devastating effects on people and the environment.
—Hugo A Loaiciga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for recurrent
Cite this Entry
“Recurrent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/recurrent. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
recurrent
adjective
Medical Definition
recurrent
adjective
Share