incoming

The word “incoming” means arriving or about to arrive. In plain terms, coming in, or about to arrive — for flights, calls, messages, or new office-holders.

“Incoming” is pronounced IHN-kuh-mihng (/ˈɪnˌkʌmɪŋ/ in IPA).

Here is “incoming” used in a sentence: “The airport announced delays for all incoming flights.”

The opposite of “incoming” — its antonyms — is outgoing.

Depending on how it is used, “incoming” can be an adjective and an interjection.

“Incoming” is a fairly common word in modern English.

“Incoming” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: arriving or about to arrive.

"Incoming" describes something arriving or about to arrive, or a person about to take up a role. "Outgoing" is its opposite, describing something leaving or a person about to leave a position. For example, an incoming president replaces the outgoing one.

"Incoming" means arriving or approaching a place, such as an incoming flight or an incoming tide. "Oncoming" specifically describes something moving toward you, most often traffic, as in "oncoming cars." Use "oncoming" for things heading straight at you and "incoming" for things simply arriving.

As an interjection, "incoming" is a warning that something, especially a projectile such as a shell or rocket, is approaching, telling people to take cover. This military usage has also spread into casual speech to warn that anything is heading your way fast.

"Incoming" often pairs with words like call, email, message, flight, tide, and mail to describe things arriving. In an organizational sense, it also pairs with roles such as incoming president, chair, or student, meaning the person about to start in that position.