creeps 1 of 2

Definition of creepsnext
plural of creep

creeps

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of creep
1
as in encroaches
to advance gradually beyond the usual or desirable limits water crept slowly over the top of the tub and onto the floor

Synonyms & Similar Words

2
3
as in crawls
to move slowly with the body close to the ground the kitten crept silently across the floor before suddenly pouncing on the mouse

Synonyms & Similar Words

4

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 creeps
Noun
The tiny silver-green leaves form an incredibly low, dense mat that creeps along the ground. Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 26 Apr. 2026 If the reader cannot answer those questions quickly, doubt creeps in. Jd Barker, Rolling Stone, 16 Apr. 2026 The Financial Times stepped inside the home of Rirkrit Tiravanija on the outskirts of Chiang Mai, where lush greenery spills through expansive windows and creeps into the interior itself. Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 15 Apr. 2026 Everybody on the right creeps left, and everybody on the left creeps right. Charlotte Observer, 30 Mar. 2026 Artemis 2 rocket creeps along toward launch pad NASA's Artemis 2 moon rocket, the second-ever Space Launch System booster, is slowly making progress along the 4-mile journey to its Florida pad at Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Josh Dinner, Space.com, 27 Mar. 2026 Fear creeps in as cases continue to rise The lack of official narrative may have led local folks to a premature sense of safety, believing that the outbreak had ended even as cases continue to add up. Deidre McPhillips, CNN Money, 23 Mar. 2026 The draft is interesting because there aren’t the top-of-the-board type options like last year (Colston Loveland and Tyler Warren) but the closer late April creeps, the deeper many people believe the tight end crop is on the whole. Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 21 Mar. 2026 Ad dollars are crucial as the cost of staging the tournament creeps ever upwards. Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 20 Mar. 2026
Verb
Mira’s politics are still primarily shaped by her parents, but the culture creeps in. Anna Wiener, New Yorker, 4 May 2026 Mildew creeps along the corners of the tub. Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Charlotte Observer, 30 Apr. 2026 Win it, and suddenly the series tightens, the doubt creeps in and the path gets a lot more complicated for Orlando. Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Apr. 2026 As the world creeps toward peak travel season, industry leaders are taking notice of the fuel shortages. Justin Klawans, TheWeek, 13 Apr. 2026 The bottom line Concentration risk often creeps into your portfolio over time. Doug Ashburn, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2026 The same game of legislative chicken now starts anew as the calendar creeps toward April. Steve Bousquet, Sun Sentinel, 14 Mar. 2026 This time round, though, an unfortunate silliness sometimes creeps in, where the film risks tipping over Shakespearean-size emotions into embarrassing bathos. Miriam Balanescu, IndieWire, 5 Mar. 2026 The curved shadow of the Earth that creeps across the moon during lunar eclipses is key to humankind’s understanding of our planet. Paul Rogers, Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for creeps
Noun
  • Here, witches are real — and so are jerks.
    Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2026
  • This was just the beginning of us young anarchists becoming judgmental jerks.
    Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 7 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Paglen’s ideas, collected between two covers, carve a clean, linear path through our messy neural era, engaging in the kind of big-picture sense-making that books remain well suited to do, even as AI encroaches on this terrain.
    Louis Bury, ARTnews.com, 1 May 2026
  • Meta, Anthropic and Apple all now use TPUs, as Google increasingly encroaches on a market cornered by Nvidia's graphics processing units.
    Katie Tarasov, CNBC, 20 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • The night footage is especially beautiful and memorable, and the careful handling of light shapes an aesthetic that lingers well beyond the final frame.
    Matthew Carey, Deadline, 7 May 2026
  • Spiking energy costs as the war in the Middle East lingers.
    Matt Egan, CNN Money, 7 May 2026
Verb
  • Think about how often your toddler crawls near the dog bed or your kids toss pet toys around the living room.
    Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Apr. 2026
  • In the book, Grace drags Rocky back to his part of the ship, exposing himself to the Eridian environment; in the film, Rocky crawls back while Grace is unconscious.
    Matthew Razak, Space.com, 23 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • The performance itself grows increasingly grating as the runtime drags on, particularly when Johnny’s scene partners overpower him by connecting deeper and doing less.
    Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 6 May 2026
  • The same logic should apply to the papering process itself, the document drafting and redlining that drags on long after the business points are ostensibly settled.
    George Heller, HollywoodReporter, 6 May 2026
Verb
  • Kym is the family fuckup and a guilty party to its biggest tragedy but also constantly pokes the bear as its selfish verbal assassin.
    Chris Feil, Vulture, 1 May 2026
  • Instead, the robot simply pokes through it.
    Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 30 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Another car snakes down the road.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 14 Apr. 2026
  • Londoners won’t queue for just anything, but the coffee and pastries at Jolene are well worth joining the line that often snakes around the corner.
    Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Tristan returns home and greets James while Siegfried shuffles the woman out the window.
    Alice Burton, Vulture, 12 Jan. 2026
  • That is not unique — Major League Baseball’s offseason shuffles along at a deliberate pace, just as the Dodgers historically have liked.
    Katie Woo, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Creeps.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/creeps. Accessed 9 May. 2026.

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