as in creeping
to advance gradually beyond the usual or desirable limits
each year the sea continues to encroach upon the island's beaches
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of encroaching
But if your peonies are flowering less over time or nearby plants are encroaching on their growing space, dividing them in fall is one simple solution.
—
Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 3 Sep. 2025
The general rule is that a property owner in Arizona is allowed, at the property owner’s expense, to trim encroaching roots or branches back to the property line.
—Christopher A. Combs, AZCentral.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Against all of this allegedly heady stuff, the score—by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross—intentionally jars us from encroaching drowsiness with chortling woodwinds and shardlike piano chords that are the aural equivalent of jagged Plexiglass off-cuts.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 29 Aug. 2025
With the new policy, plus-size passengers deemed to be encroaching on neighboring seats must purchase a second seat at booking.
—Laura Begley Bloom, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Good Boy stars Indy, the real-life pet of writer-director Ben Leonberg, as a dog (also named Indy) who tries to warn his owner (Shane Jensen) of evil supernatural forces encroaching on their rural farmhouse.
—Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 23 Aug. 2025
But satellite operators have been increasingly encroaching on that spectrum.
—Tereza Pultarova, Space.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Opponents called the hunt cruel, unnecessary and an excuse for hunters to bag a trophy animal when the real issue is the encroaching human population in bear habitat as Florida continues to grow.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 13 Aug. 2025
This shade created micro-climates where smaller fruit trees and ground crops could grow, while palm trunks and fences woven from fronds helped hold back the ever-encroaching sand and doubled as building materials.
—Jacob Jones, JSTOR Daily, 13 Aug. 2025
Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 3 Sep. 2025
The general rule is that a property owner in Arizona is allowed, at the property owner’s expense, to trim encroaching roots or branches back to the property line.
—Christopher A. Combs, AZCentral.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Against all of this allegedly heady stuff, the score—by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross—intentionally jars us from encroaching drowsiness with chortling woodwinds and shardlike piano chords that are the aural equivalent of jagged Plexiglass off-cuts.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 29 Aug. 2025
With the new policy, plus-size passengers deemed to be encroaching on neighboring seats must purchase a second seat at booking.
—Laura Begley Bloom, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Good Boy stars Indy, the real-life pet of writer-director Ben Leonberg, as a dog (also named Indy) who tries to warn his owner (Shane Jensen) of evil supernatural forces encroaching on their rural farmhouse.
—Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 23 Aug. 2025
But satellite operators have been increasingly encroaching on that spectrum.
—Tereza Pultarova, Space.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Opponents called the hunt cruel, unnecessary and an excuse for hunters to bag a trophy animal when the real issue is the encroaching human population in bear habitat as Florida continues to grow.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 13 Aug. 2025
This shade created micro-climates where smaller fruit trees and ground crops could grow, while palm trunks and fences woven from fronds helped hold back the ever-encroaching sand and doubled as building materials.
—Jacob Jones, JSTOR Daily, 13 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for encroaching
Verb
-
The feelings of postpartum depression — despair, guilt, shame and worthlessness — began creeping in.—
Alyssa Goldberg,
USA Today,
3 Sep. 2025
-
With trigger-warning culture on the wane and a brutish permissiveness creeping back into society, corporate scolds have lost much of their power.—
Liz Hoffman,
semafor.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
That’s why his firm offers privacy-first, non-intrusive monitoring — no screenshots, no keystroke logging — using only numerical signals to reveal productivity trends without invading personal privacy.—
Kolawole Samuel Adebayo,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
-
Channeling history, Putin has staked a key part of his pretext for invading Ukraine on the claim that neo-Nazi ideology was gaining ground in the neighboring state also viewed as the next potential frontier for NATO expansion.—
Tom O'Connor,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Encroaching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/encroaching. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share