Meaning & use
incident
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Meanings
nouncountable
A single event, often unpleasant or unusual, that is worth recording or investigating.
Grammar: Has a plural: two incidents; often follows an adjective such as isolated or serious.
Patterns
- an incident involving someone
- an incident at somewhere
Police are investigating an incident at the railway station.
There was an incident on the bus last night, but nobody was hurt.
The school keeps a log of every incident of bullying.
nouncountable
A violent or political event between countries or groups that could turn into a larger conflict.
Grammar: Often appears in news reports: a border incident.
Patterns
- a diplomatic incident
- a border incident
The ship collision caused a diplomatic incident between the two countries.
A brief border incident raised fears of war.
Officials tried to prevent the incident from escalating.
nouncountableformal
A small episode that forms part of a longer story or period of someone's life.
Grammar: Often used for stories: an amusing incident from my childhood.
Patterns
- an incident in something
He told us an amusing incident from his schooldays.
The novel is built from a series of small incidents.
Word forms
| plural | incidents |
|---|
Common combinations
- isolated incident
- The manager insisted the complaint was an isolated incident.
- report an incident
- Please report any incident to the office immediately.
- serious incident
- A serious incident closed the motorway for hours.
- without incident
- The flight landed without incident.
- incident room
- Detectives set up an incident room in the village hall.
- incident report
- She filled in an incident report after the fall.
Synonyms and how they differ
- event
- Event is neutral and covers planned things like parties, while incident usually suggests something unexpected or troubling.
- occurrence
- Occurrence is a more formal, general word for anything that happens, whereas incident implies something worth noting.
- episode
- Episode views an event as one part of a longer series, while incident treats it as a single occurrence.
- mishap
- Mishap is a lighter word for a small unlucky accident, whereas incident can be serious.
Word family
- incidental adjective
- happening as a minor side effect
- incidentally adverb
- by the way; as a side remark
- incidence noun
- how often something occurs
- incidental noun
- a minor extra expense or item
Commonly confused: incident or incidence? incident or accident?
incident vs incidence
Incidence means the rate or frequency at which something happens, such as the incidence of flu, not a single event.
incident vs accident
An accident is unplanned and causes harm; an incident can be deliberate and need not involve injury.
Practice
The pilot reported that the flight had been completed without ______.
Choose one answer.
Without incident is a fixed phrase meaning nothing unusual happened. Incidence means frequency and does not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “incident”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.