Phrase guide

incidental expense

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A minor expense incurred in the course of an activity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • His incidental expenses are high, but he gets the job done.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

(frequently plural) an expense not budgeted or not specified

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he requested reimbursement of $7 for incidental expenses

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: incidental, minor expense

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: expense

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

6 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: sivukulu — minor expense
  • Finnish: satunnainen kulu — minor expense
  • Italian: costo imprevisto — minor expense
  • Italian: spesa imprevista — minor expense
  • Manx: fo-red — minor expense
  • Manx: fo-feeagh — minor expense