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
Billboard Japan, Billboard, 4 June 2025
In this study, researchers evaluated how following a structured exercise program might further reduce the risk of recurrent or new cancer compared with just being advised to exercise.
—Tom Gavin, EverydayHealth.com, 3 June 2025
In other words, the exercise program was found to prevent 1 out of every 16 patients from developing recurrent or new cancer.
—Deidre McPhillips, CNN Money, 1 June 2025
Humanity, in the novel, has lived under the recurrent threat of catastrophically destructive memes—dark, self-fulfilling premonitions of scarcity, zero-sum competition, fear, mistrust, inegalitarianism.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 28 May 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 10 Jun. 2025.
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recurrent
adjective
Medical Definition
recurrent
adjective
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