Word · CEFR C2 · Frequency #11460
incumbent
在职者
the current holder of an office
- 1.
The current holder of an office or title; (specifically, Christianity) the holder of an ecclesiastical benefice.
现任者；在职者；(基督教)圣俸持有者。
- 2.
the official who holds an office
担任公职的官员
- 3.
A holder of a position as supplier to a market or market segment that allows the holder to earn above-normal profits.
市场上或细分市场中的现有供应者,能赚取超额利润。
现任者；在职者；(基督教)圣俸持有者。；担任公职的官员；市场上或细分市场中的现有供应者,能赚取超额利润。；领圣俸者
In use
The incumbent won the election by a narrow margin.
Voters often expect the incumbent to fix problems left by the previous government.
In many races, incumbents have more campaign money than challengers.
incumbent + [noun]
incumbent 作形容词时意为“现任的”，放在官职或职位名词前作定语。
The incumbent senator voted against the bill.
现任参议员对该法案投了反对票。
be incumbent on/upon sb to do sth
该结构的主语通常为 it，真正的主语是后面的不定式，表示“某人有责任做某事”。
It is incumbent on every citizen to obey the law.
每个公民都有义务遵守法律。
the incumbent of [position]
incumbent 作名词时指“在职者、现任者”，后可接 of 短语说明具体职位；复数形式为 incumbents。
Connections
Collocations
- incumbent president
- 现任总统
- The incumbent president is expected to win a second term.现任总统预计将赢得第二个任期。
- incumbent advantage
- 在位者优势；现任优势
- The incumbent advantage can make it hard for newcomers to win.在职者优势可能让新来者很难获胜。
- be incumbent on/upon
- 是某人的责任；有义务做
- It is incumbent on all employees to report any conflicts of interest.所有员工都有义务报告任何利益冲突。
- defeat the incumbent
- 击败在任者
- The challenger narrowly defeated the incumbent in the primary.挑战者初选中以微弱优势击败了在任者。
Idioms & figurative uses
- be incumbent on/upon someone
- 是某人的职责；某人有义务做某事It is incumbent on all citizens to respect the law.
Learner notes
Memory Tip
联想 in-cum-bent 像 'in come bent'：现任者进门时被公务压弯腰。
Context & Register
语域：formal 常见场景：politics、business 「incumbent」作名词指“在职者、现任者”时，多用于正式或书面语境，比较常见于政治选举和商业竞争的报道中；日常对话中较少直接使用这个词。
Pronunciation & Spelling
Recumbent rhymes with incumbent, sharing the stressed vowel /ʌ/ and the ending /mbənt/ (the b is pronounced). Encumber, number, and lumber contain the same /ʌm/ + b sequence but end in /ər/, so they are lookalikes, not rhymes.
Usage priority
Collins 词频等级为 2，建议结合例句记忆，而不是只背中文释义。
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, OCTANOVE, WIKTIONARY.