as in prevalence
the rate at which something happens
They found an increased incidence of crime in the city when social programs were cut.
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Recent Examples of incidence
Research shows more adults in their 20s, 30s and 40s are being diagnosed with colorectal cancer, with incidence increasing over the last three decades.
—
Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 31 Jan. 2026
Men reached a 5% incidence of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack, stroke and heart failure, at around 50 years old compared to 57 for women.
—Angelica Stabile, FOXNews.com, 29 Jan. 2026
There are more nuanced discussions about whether representation should reflect the distribution of disease incidence — the different proportions of people who are diagnosed with the disease annually — versus census distribution.
—Yehoda Martei, STAT, 27 Jan. 2026
If cell phones cause brain cancer, then the skyrocketing popularity of this technology would suggest that these cancer rates would also increase — but incidence has remained stable.
—Tingting Tan, EverydayHealth.com, 23 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for incidence
Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 31 Jan. 2026
Men reached a 5% incidence of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack, stroke and heart failure, at around 50 years old compared to 57 for women.
—Angelica Stabile, FOXNews.com, 29 Jan. 2026
There are more nuanced discussions about whether representation should reflect the distribution of disease incidence — the different proportions of people who are diagnosed with the disease annually — versus census distribution.
—Yehoda Martei, STAT, 27 Jan. 2026
If cell phones cause brain cancer, then the skyrocketing popularity of this technology would suggest that these cancer rates would also increase — but incidence has remained stable.
—Tingting Tan, EverydayHealth.com, 23 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for incidence
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incidence
Noun
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Despite the prevalence of these diseases, Geisler notes that two patients may share the same diagnosis yet arrive there through entirely different biological and lifestyle pathways, making generalized treatment insufficient.—
Wyles Daniel,
USA Today,
7 Feb. 2026
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The morning people, on the other hand, had a five percent lower prevalence of poor heart health scores.—
Outside,
Outside,
7 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The incident left the community and country in shock; school shootings are not a frequent occurrence in Canada.—
Washington Examiner Staff,
The Washington Examiner,
11 Feb. 2026
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Although in an ideal world the audience for a film will be drawn from all four quadrants, that’s not a common occurrence.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Research suggests that ginger can significantly cut down on the intensity of the nausea in both cases, and may reduce the frequency of vomiting in the latter.—
The New York Times News Service Syndicate,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
10 Feb. 2026
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Staff at Hearst took note this week of the frequency in which board member and scion Austin Hearst dined with Epstein in 2013; emails showed Epstein invited Hearst to visit his home, and the two planned a trip together to visit Harvard.—
Max Tani,
semafor.com,
9 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Incidence.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incidence. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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