recurrent
adjective
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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
Justin Peck / Made By History, TIME, 14 Mar. 2025
Treating a male partner with oral and topical medicine in a woman with recurrent bacterial vaginosis makes good clinical sense based on this study.
—Fran Kritz, Verywell Health, 12 Mar. 2025
One is through Subscription solutions, which are the least volatile and include recurrent revenue from POS terminals, websites, apps, and domain subscriptions.
—Gurufocus, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025
She’s struggled with secondary infertility and recurrent pregnancy loss since the birth of her daughter seven years ago.
—Alyssa Goldberg, USA TODAY, 5 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 23 Mar. 2025.
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recurrent
adjective
Medical Definition
recurrent
adjective
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