Basic Details
Word: Incident
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Something that happens, especially an event that is unusual, unpleasant or causes trouble.
Synonyms: event, occurrence, episode, happening
How to Spell Incident
Syllables: in - ci - dent
Tricky part: The c sounds like s, so students write insident. After the c comes i, not e, and the word ends in dent, not dant.
Watch out for: insident, incedent, incidant
Memory tip: An incident can leave a dent: in-ci-DENT. Remember too that c before i sounds like s, as in city.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The guard wrote down every detail of the incident in his notebook.
Example 2: Apart from one flat tyre, the trip passed without incident.
Example 3: The school sent a letter home after the incident in the playground.
Fun Fact
In science, an incident ray is the ray of light that strikes a surface, such as a mirror, before it bounces off as the reflected ray.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
During our school trip to Jaipur, a small incidant at the fort, when a monkey snatched a teacher's sunglasses, kept everyone laughing for days afterwards.
a) snatched
b) sunglasses
c) afterwards
d) incidant
Show answer
d) incidant. The last four letters are dent, a word you already know how to spell.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
The police are still looking into the tnecdini that took place outside the bank last night.
a) incident
b) accident
c) insistent
d) incidence
Show answer
a) incident. Incidence needs an extra c and e, and accident needs an a; the letters given make only incident.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. sargeant 2. evidense 3. witnes 4. incident
a) a person who sees an event happen
b) facts or objects that show whether something is true
c) an event, often an unusual or unpleasant one
d) a police or army officer of middle rank
Show answer
c) an event, often an unusual or unpleasant one. Incident is the correct one; witness ends in double s, evidence ends in ence and sergeant begins with ser.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these is most likely to be reported as an incident?
a) The length of a river
b) The colour of the sky
c) A recipe for kheer
d) A minor accident on the highway
Show answer
d) A minor accident on the highway
2. Incident and ____ are close in meaning.
a) occurrence
b) ingredient
c) intention
d) instrument
Show answer
a) occurrence
