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Inroad is a combination of in and road, both of which are pretty mundane, as far as words go. But the first-and-oldest-meaning of inroad hints at a meaning of road other than the "way for traveling" one. Beginning back in the days of Old English, road referred to an armed hostile incursion made on horseback. (Raid comes from this use of road and also formerly specified incursions on horseback.) Road, as well as inroad, has lost its violent connotation. While inroads are often made at the expense of someone or something, they are at times simply advances, as when an artist is said to be "making inroads into a community."
Examples of inroad in a Sentence
Aaron Dhaliwal, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
As the digital comics company makes inroads in Hollywood, Webtoon and Disney will build and operate a new digital comics platform to bring 35,000 comics from Marvel, Star Wars, Disney, Pixar and 20th Century Studios under one service.
—Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 16 Sep. 2025
New York voters have heavily leaned Democratic in most local and statewide elections, though Republicans have made inroads due to a strong base combined with more political sway from independent voters.
—Nick Mordowanec, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025
Speleologists made inroads into academia, and the University of Vienna created a speleology department.
—Danny Robb, JSTOR Daily, 12 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inroad
Cite this Entry
“Inroad.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inroad. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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