accrue
verb
Simple meaning
To reach or come to by way of increase.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhkrooSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
əkˈɹu
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
intransitive
To reach or come to by way of increase; to arise or spring up because of growth or result, especially as the produce of money lent.
intransitiveaccounting
To be incurred as a result of the passage of time.
intransitive
To increase, to rise
transitive
To accumulate.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To reach or come to by way of increase; to arise or spring up because of growth or result, especially as the produce of money lent.
To 'accrue' means to accumulate or increase over time, particularly in terms of financial benefits or obligations. It's often used with interest, benefits, or debts, implying a steady, natural growth.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where you'll really hear it
Bank Statement
“Interest will accrue on your savings account monthly.”
Employment Contract
“Employees accrue sick leave at a rate of one day per month.”
Legal Advice
“Significant debt can accrue if payments are consistently missed.”
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use accrue
- “The interest accrues.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.