1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

creeps up

verb

present tense third-person singular of creep up
as in sneaks up

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for creeps up
  1. shows up
  2. turns up
  3. comes
  4. hits
  5. reaches
  6. arrives
Verb
  • Peter goes to class and shows up for the people who love him.
    — Nicole DuBois, Forbes.com, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Wind River’s Julia Jones shows up as a Native woman who joins the pack, and holds her own against obstacles ranging from raging rivers to even-more-raging men.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of shows up
Verb
  • Kardashian stars in the seasonal campaign that turns up the heat with fresh styles, available on Fabletics’ official website beginning Thursday.
    — Julia Teti, Footwear News, 23 Sep. 2026
  • In one scene, the couple turns up the music while the sound of ambulance sirens floods the streets.
    — Jourdain Searles, HollywoodReporter, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of turns up
Verb
  • On the heels of a normal-sounding nominee for surgeon general comes another normal-sounding nominee for the FDA.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 26 Sep. 2026
  • The emotional episode comes one week after viewers saw Meadows return to the Aleutian Lady following a medical leave.
    — Deirdre Durkan, PEOPLE, 26 Sep. 2026
Definition of comes
Verb
  • The incoming wave hits a slanted wall, bounces off at an angle, and rapidly spirals into complete unpredictability.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 28 Sep. 2026
  • An old-school shag hairstyle traditionally hits between the collarbone and chest, but face shape and hair texture should dictate your most flattering length.
    — Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of hits
Verb
  • In travel, great service starts before the guest reaches the desk.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 25 Sep. 2026
  • What begins as a trivial disagreement reaches new proportions regarding how far a lack of dialogue can drive people.
    — Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of reaches
Verb
  • The program arrives as aviation faces persistent demand for new pilots.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 25 Sep. 2026
  • The crime thriller stars Nailia Harzoune as Justine, who arrives in Singapore, determined to reinvent herself and give her family a fresh start.
    — Carole Horst, Variety, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of arrives
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.

Browse Nearby Words

creeps
creeps up
creep up
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Creeps up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/creeps%20up. Accessed 29 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of argot

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of the words cracker fly and sale arranged in a triangle with the word fire in the middle
Triple Play Quiz Find the word that pairs with each of the three g...
See All