This was third school shooting incident in six months.
Source: tatoeba (21613)
Incident
/ˈɪn.sɪ.dənt/
Synonyms for "incident" (139 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (28)
Strong matches (42)
Noun(14 words)
catcallschappaquiddickcommon nonbiological eventcontretempscraunchcrowd crushdisobediencesdramaembarrassmentsembroilingepisodeepisodeseventevents
Related words (69)
Noun(18 words)
happeninghappeningshijackshome break-ininstancelindberghmishapsmotor vehicle accidentoccur tooccurrenceoccurrencesplot eventpresent eventquarrellingrecordreportsequence eventsvandalizing
Adjective(3 words)
Verb(1 words)
ignore safety warnings
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: accidental, accidents, action, adventure, adventures.
- Sentence evidence is available for incident, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from derived_reverse, moby, opengloss, wordnet, and related lexical sources.
Synonym selection checklist
- Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
- Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
- Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "incident".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "incident"
Keep "incident" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Replacement workflow
1. Preserve meaning
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "incident" intact in the sentence you are editing.
2. Tune tone
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
3. Re-read context
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
Final fit check
After choosing a replacement for "incident", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "incident" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
14 entriesMore specific
4 entriesCollocations
6 entriesincident reportmajor incidentminor incidentsafety incidentserious incidenttraffic incident
Inflections
1 entriesDerivations
3 entriessimilar
5 entriesTranslations
62 translations across 34 languages.
Azerbaijani
2 entries- hadisə noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- qəza noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Belarusian
2 entries- здарэ́нне noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- інцыдэ́нт noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Bengali
2 entries- অকু noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- অকুআত noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Bulgarian
2 entries- инциде́нт noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- произше́ствие noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Chinese Mandarin
1 entries- 事件 noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Czech
1 entries- incident noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Dutch
2 entries- incident noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- voorval noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Finnish
4 entries- häiriötilanne noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- selkkaus noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- vaaratilanne noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- välikohtaus noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Georgian
2 entries- ინციდენტი noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- შემთხვევა noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
German
4 entries- Affäre noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- Ereignis noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- Fehler noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- Störfall noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Hebrew
1 entries- תַּקְרִית noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Hindi
1 entries- दुर्घटना noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Hungarian
1 entries- incidens noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Irish
1 entries- eachtra noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Italian
4 entries- anomalia noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- imprevisto noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- incidente noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- inconveniente noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Japanese
2 entries- 事変 noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- 事故 noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Khmer
1 entries- ឧប្បត្តិហេតុ noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Korean
1 entries- 사건 noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Lao
1 entries- ອຸປະຕິເຫດ noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Macedonian
2 entries- инциде́нт noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- не́згода noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Persian
1 entries- حادثه noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Polish
1 entries- incydent noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Romanian
2 entries- deranjament noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- incident noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Russian
2 entries- инциде́нт noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- происше́ствие noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Serbo-Croatian
4 entries- incìdent noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- nèzgoda noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- инцѝдент noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- нѐзгода noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Slovak
1 entries- incident noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Slovene
2 entries- incident noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- nezgoda noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Spanish
1 entries- insuceso noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Swedish
3 entries- incident noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- olyckshändelse noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- tillbud noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Tajik
1 entries- ҳодиса noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Thai
1 entries- อุบัติเหตุ noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Turkish
2 entries- hadise noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
- kaza noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Ukrainian
1 entries- інциде́нт noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Uzbek
1 entries- hodisa noun (event causing interruption or crisis)
Sample sentences
23 total sentences available.
We mustn't make too much of this incident.
Source: tatoeba (23241)
There was an unfortunate incident at home.
Source: tatoeba (24265)
I must pull myself together to overcome this incident.
Source: tatoeba (29017)
Showing 4 of 23 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "incident"?
Closest matches include accidental, accidents, action, adventure, adventures.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "incident"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.