Synonyms of encountered

encountered

verb

past tense of encounter

1

as in met

to come upon face-to-face or as if face-to-face

quite unexpectedly encountered our next-door neighbor while vacationing in Europe

Synonyms & Similar Words

• met
• confronted
• caught
• greeted
• happened (upon)
• stumbled (upon)
• faced
• ran into
• ran across
• bumped into
• chanced (upon)
• accosted
• ran upon
• crossed paths (with)
• saluted
• passed
• crossed
• crashed (into)
• crisscrossed
• collided (with)
• hit (upon)
• lit (upon)
• tumbled (to)
• reencountered
• remet

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• avoided
• escaped
• shook
• evaded
• ducked
• eluded
• shunned
• dodged

2

as in found

to come upon unexpectedly or by chance

we encountered a host of unforeseen problems during the restoration of our 200-year-old house

Synonyms & Similar Words

• found
• met
• faced
• hit (upon)
• happened (on or upon)
• came across
• discovered
• pitched (upon)
• stumbled (on or onto)
• confronted
• tumbled (upon)
• ran into
• ran across
• lit (on or upon)
• bumped into
• ran against
• chanced (upon)
• ran upon
• turned up
• lucked (out, on, onto, or into)
• struck

3

as in faced

to enter into contest or conflict with

the troops encountered bands of guerrilla fighters as they made their way across the desert

Synonyms & Similar Words

• faced
• met
• engaged
• fought
• battled
• took on
• opposed
• contended
• rivaled
• emulated

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• escaped
• evaded
• eluded
• retreated

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of encountered

Despite a strong résumé, Buchanan has encountered various barriers to entry throughout his career. — Joe Bobowicz, Vogue, 26 Sep. 2026

On the streets of Bangui, CNN encountered open hostility toward LGBTQ people. — Mick Krever, CNN Money, 26 Sep. 2026

Investigators are still working to determine exactly what happened inside the house, and Hartman said officers encountered inconsistencies while interviewing those who were there. — Greg Wehner, FOXNews.com, 25 Sep. 2026

The cybersecurity industry has encountered versions of this problem before. — Sumit Dhawan, Forbes.com, 23 Sep. 2026

When David encountered another pair of hikers, one stayed with him while the other ran down the trail to get help. — Chris Spargo, PEOPLE, 22 Sep. 2026

Old Carpet Almost everyone has, at one point, encountered icky carpeting or found carpet in general to be unhygienic after it’s been lived in by another party. — Sheila Kim, The Spruce, 21 Sep. 2026

It’s1977, eight years since Cliff Booth (Pitt) encountered the Manson family in Quentin Tarantino’s parallel history of 1969, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. — James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 21 Sep. 2026

Joby also said its aircraft encountered severe weather and thunderstorms during the journey. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 18 Sep. 2026