mission creep

Definition of mission creep

: the gradual broadening of the original objectives of a mission or organization

Examples of mission creep in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Due to decades of shortsighted political decisions, the police have been subjected to endless mission creep. — WSJ, "Are Police the Best Answer for Public Safety?," 11 June 2020 Second, Boyle argues, drones promote mission creep, displacing our goals. — Eoin O'carroll, The Christian Science Monitor, "How drones change the risks that nations are willing to take," 2 June 2020 Some experts fear mission creep, while others see this as a chance to finally have our laws catch up with the digital age. — Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, "9/11 saw much of our privacy swept aside. Coronavirus could end it altogether," 16 May 2020 Metro has expanded its role in recent years into addressing systemic regional issues like houselessness and must guard against mission creep. — oregonlive, "Metro Council races: Battle for North, Northeast Portland seat may be most competitive in a decade," 30 Apr. 2020 Defenders of the Silicon Valley faith will grumble about mission creep in Brussels. — Washington Post, "Google And Facebook’s Next Big Fight," 18 Feb. 2019 American critics, including former president Barack Obama, once suggested that Syria would prove a quagmire for Russia, which would succumb to the mission creep that has plagued U.S. involvement in the Middle East. — Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, "Russia stays in the driver’s seat in Syria," 10 July 2018 Another way of looking at this is that, for now, mission creep is more of a risk than the actual mission. — Geoff Manaugh, The Atlantic, "Drone Cops Take Flight in Los Angeles," 8 June 2018 The creature experiences its own sort of mission creep. — Dwight Garner, New York Times, "In ‘Frankenstein in Baghdad,’ a Fantastical Manifestation of War’s Cruelties," 22 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mission creep.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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mission control

mission furniture

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Last Updated

22 Jun 2020

Cite this Entry

“Mission creep.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mission%20creep. Accessed 3 Aug. 2020.

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