¹incumbent

noun in·cum·bent \in-ˈkəm-bənt\

: a person who holds a particular office or position

Full Definition of INCUMBENT

: the holder of an office or ecclesiastical benefice

: one that occupies a particular position or place

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Examples of INCUMBENT

Because the statehouse now determines voting districts, the current map generally ensures that incumbents face minimal challenges to re-election. —Terry McCarthy, Time, 20 Dec. 2004
When Reagan and Clinton were seeking re-election, they didn't go after their opponents directly, in part because they didn't have to. Those incumbents knew that there's a point at which strong and tough can look weak and desperate. —Jonathan Alter, Newsweek, 9 Aug. 2004
Jane Austen was born into the downwardly mobile branch of an upper-middle-class family. … None of the Austen children could inherit the family home from their father, a Church of England clergyman; after his death it would go to the next incumbent. —Kevin Barry, New York Times Book Review, 7 Dec. 1997
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Origin of INCUMBENT

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin incumbent-, incumbens, present participle of incumbere to lie down on, from in- + -cumbere to lie down; akin to cubare to lie

First Known Use: 15th century

Other Government and Politics Terms

agent provocateur, agitprop, autarky, cabal, egalitarianism, federalism, hegemony, plenipotentiary, popular sovereignty, socialism

Rhymes with INCUMBENT

decumbent, procumbent, recumbent

²incumbent

adjective in·cum·bent \in-ˈkəm-bənt\

: holding an office or position

Full Definition of INCUMBENT

: imposed as a duty : obligatory <incumbent on us to take action>

: having the status of an incumbent (see ¹incumbent) <the team's incumbent third baseman>; especially : occupying a specified office <the incumbent mayor>

: lying or resting on something else

: bent over so as to rest on or touch an underlying surface

See incumbent defined for English-language learners

Examples of INCUMBENT

It is incumbent upon the press to act not in its own best interests, but in society's best interests. —Carll Tucker, Saturday Review, 23 June 1979
… the various types of obligation incumbent on the members of the profession. —R. M. MacIver, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, January 1955
… Mr. Lorry felt it incumbent on him to speak a word or two of reassurance. —Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, 1859
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