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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
Ganesh Rao, CNBC, 20 June 2025
Some Democrats note Weingarten’s and Saunders’s departures come after Republicans made inroads with some union constituencies in 2024.
—Julia Manchester, The Hill, 17 June 2025
Whether Earle-Sears can consolidate those suburban inroads — or whether Spanberger can capitalize on anger over the Trump administration's antagonistic approach to the federal workforce — may very well decide the race.
—Margaret Barthel, NPR, 17 June 2025
Although these genres had started making massive inroads into the pop charts and mainstream music starting in the late 1990s, Princiotti observed in her research that magazine and tabloid covers still largely prioritized white artists.
—Annie Zaleski, Los Angeles Times, 17 June 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 29 Jun. 2025.
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