trespass implies an unwarranted or unlawful intrusion.
hunters trespassing on farmland
encroach suggests gradual or stealthy entrance upon another's territory or usurpation of another's rights or possessions.
the encroaching settlers displacing the native peoples
infringe implies an encroachment clearly violating a right or prerogative.
infringing a copyright
invade implies a hostile and injurious entry into the territory or sphere of another.
accused of invading their privacy
Examples of invade in a Sentence
The troops invaded at dawn.
When tourists invade, the town is a very different place.
The cancer eventually invaded the brain.
Weeds had invaded the garden.
Bacteria invaded and caused an infection.
Recent Examples on the WebAnd if a virus does manage to invade a host cell, it will be targeted for destruction by memory T cells.—WIRED, 19 Nov. 2023 Tarawa was one of the most fortified atolls America would invade in the Pacific during the war.—Natasha Frost Maud Bodoukian Meyrant, New York Times, 18 Nov. 2023 Having a strong immune system helps your body fight off invading germs and infections and is key to staying healthy, especially during cold and flu season.—Arden Fanning Andrews, Vogue, 17 Nov. 2023 Paul becomes famous as the anonymous Area Man inexplicably invading everyone’s unconscious, the kind of notoriety that can’t help but lead to a particular kind of celebrity.—Ann Hornaday, Washington Post, 15 Nov. 2023 Over 100,000 people took to the streets in Paris on Sunday to protest the rise in antisemitism taking place since Oct. 7, when Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel to execute a deadly massacre.—Greg Wehner, Fox News, 12 Nov. 2023 Since the Hamas massacre of October 7th, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government—in addition to invading Gaza—has, with its allies in the settler movement, become increasingly aggressive in the West Bank.—Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 11 Nov. 2023 The incongruity is further heightened by the fact that the CCP, after invading Tibet in the 1950s, was responsible for destroying nearly all of Tibet’s approximately 6,000 Tibetan monasteries and nunneries and disrobing almost all its monks and nuns.—Lobsang Sangay, Foreign Affairs, 6 Nov. 2023 Filming took place there as well as in Budapest, Paris and Villefranche-de-Rouergue in southern France just as Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, explains Knight.—Brande Victorian, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Nov. 2023 See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'invade.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
borrowed from Latin invādere "to enter with hostile intent, assault, attack," from in-in- entry 2 + vādere "to advance, go (quickly or purposefully)" — more at wade entry 1
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