Synonyms of encounters

encounters 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of encounter

1

as in meets

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

• meets
• confronts
• catches
• greets
• happens (upon)
• runs into
• stumbles (upon)
• runs upon
• runs across
• chances (upon)
• bumps into
• faces
• accosts
• crosses paths (with)
• passes
• salutes
• crosses
• crashes (into)
• collides (with)
• tumbles (to)
• crisscrosses
• hits (upon)
• reencounters
• lights (upon)
• remeets

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• escapes
• avoids
• shakes
• eludes
• evades
• shuns
• ducks
• dodges

2

as in finds

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

• finds
• meets
• runs against
• happens (on or upon)
• stumbles (on or onto)
• comes across
• hits (upon)
• runs into
• tumbles (upon)
• runs across
• faces
• chances (upon)
• pitches (upon)
• lights (on or upon)
• discovers
• confronts
• runs upon
• bumps into
• lucks (out, on, onto, or into)
• turns up
• strikes

3

as in faces

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

• faces
• meets
• engages
• fights
• battles
• takes on
• contends
• rivals
• emulates
• opposes

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• escapes
• eludes
• evades
• retreats

encounters

2 of 2

noun

plural of encounter

as in skirmishes

a brief clash between enemies or rivals

survived an encounter with the school bully at the local park

Synonyms & Similar Words

• skirmishes
• fights
• brushes
• run-ins
• brawls
• arguments
• scrapes
• quarrels
• battles
• hassles
• squabbles
• spats
• tiffs
• rows
• wrangles
• frays

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of encounters

Verb

Anyone who encounters a live bat inside a room should leave the room, close the door and contact animal control. — Daniel Hunt, Sacbee.com, 3 Nov. 2026

Recovered wreckage is being retained for analysis, and officials urged anyone who encounters debris to leave it untouched and notify authorities. — Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 3 Nov. 2026

For Cattani, childhood offered a way into that subject precisely because of the innocence with which Filo encounters the world. — Essie Assibu, Variety, 1 Nov. 2026

In the third season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, our young hero encounters two of the children of Hades before embarking on a quest to free the huntress Artemis from an ordeal, traveling all over the US and Greece. — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 28 Oct. 2026

Peterson also stole the victim’s cell phone, police alleged, and anyone who encounters him or has any information on his whereabouts is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463 or the Department of Emergency Communications at 615-862-8600. — Chris Spargo, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2026

The Paul & Shark customer values the freedom to explore the world but doesn’t want to compromise on the sense of elegance that gives so many of life’s daily encounters their richness. — Robb Report Studio, Robb Report, 26 Oct. 2026

When Jay encounters a giant squid being chased by a mammoth sperm whale, he’s unwittingly entangled in the former’s tentacles and swallowed up in one extended, terrifying sequence. — David MacK, CNN Money, 15 Oct. 2026

The country also encounters difficulties in transmitting and distributing electricity, despite substantial power-generation capacity. — Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 13 Oct. 2026

Noun

False The official number of migrant encounters during the Biden administration was 11 million. — Jack Harvel, Kansas City Star, 2 Nov. 2026

As with Childress, the accumulation of nonthreatening encounters eventually made his job untenable. — Francisco Cantú, New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2026

Even before the strike, Campbell said there were numerous questionable tactics employed by the ICE officer, which appear to mirror other controversial immigration enforcement encounters of late. — Emma Tucker, CNN Money, 2 Nov. 2026

Her search for the soirée unfolds through a series of increasingly unruly hotel encounters, with The Scene Bag, The Tote Bag and the winter 2026 collection pulled into the plot along the way. — Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 2 Nov. 2026

As the plasma gets hotter, its nuclei move faster, and a greater proportion of encounters occur at energies favorable for fusion. — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 31 Oct. 2026

Hitchcock’s Rear Window, though not a road horror film, is about the moral dilemmas associated with encounters with the other, particularly with regards to voyeurism. — Literary Hub, 30 Oct. 2026

At Holmen, encounters with nature became part of the daily rhythm. — Arati Menon, Condé Nast Traveler, 24 Oct. 2026

An exhibition, publication and professional encounters developed with the European Film Academy’s Sound Chapter accompany the screenings. — Emiliano De Pablos, Variety, 23 Oct. 2026