incumbent
part of speech
noun (an incumbent, incumbents); adjective (incumbent; incumbent on/upon someone)
meaning for a pupil
1) (formal) The incumbent is the person who holds an official job right now, such as a president, mayor or member of parliament. tree →
2) (formal) Incumbent on or upon you means it is your duty: if it is incumbent on you to do something, you must do it. tree →
3) (church) The incumbent of a parish is the priest or vicar in charge of it. tree →
sense in the lessons
Mostly heard in news about elections: «the incumbent mayor», «the incumbent won again», «defeat the incumbent». In exam and formal writing: «it is incumbent upon all pupils to…». In church life, the vicar or rector of a parish is its incumbent. It tells the reader who already holds the post, as opposed to the challenger who wants it.
examples
- The incumbent mayor is standing for election again. tree →
- The challenger beat the incumbent by two hundred votes. tree →
- It is incumbent upon every visitor to sign the book at the front desk. tree →
- The incumbent president gave a speech on television. tree →
- The parish has had the same incumbent for many years. tree →
- As class captain, it was incumbent on Mia to help new pupils. tree →
- Voters were unhappy with the incumbent government. tree →
note
Formal word; children rarely say it. As an adjective it usually comes before a noun («the incumbent leader») or in the phrase «incumbent on/upon». Do not confuse with «encumber» (to weigh down). Opposite in elections: challenger.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «incumbent» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.