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

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

An operational problem is resolved before the customer encounters it. — Ozan Ozerk, Forbes.com, 13 Oct. 2026

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

Trying to find her brother, Prue — aided by Curtis, who reveals previously unseen pluck and ingenuity — encounters a variety of colorful animal and human characters as both friends and foes. — Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 11 Oct. 2026

In the show, the crew encounters a white hole spewing time and space into the universe, and the only way to close it is for Lister to play space pool, sinking a planet into the interdimensional fissure via an over-elaborate trick shot. — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 10 Oct. 2026

After being acquitted on a technicality, the former leader encounters the ghosts of Mayan genocide victims as protests break out throughout the country in response to the verdict. — Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026

For example, turbulence arises when a flowing fluid encounters an obstacle that changes the velocity of part of the flow. — Stephen Ornes, Quanta Magazine, 2 Oct. 2026

And then Cal’s time traveler colleague Fadimatu encounters her own mummified corpse in a museum in 2018—another paradox. — Literary Hub, 1 Oct. 2026

Noun

There are encounters, opportunities, things that inspire you. — Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026

Members carried guns while monitoring police encounters with Black residents. — CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026

While Chelsea tend to retreat after taking the lead, their opponents also become more aggressive in response, committing extra bodies forward and helping to create more open, end-to-end encounters. — Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2026

And a New Currents special mention went to South Korean director Lim Hayeon’s debut feature Beach Fictions, about a young woman whose escape to a seaside town brings enigmatic encounters with a novelist, a magician and a fortune teller. — Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 15 Oct. 2026

Meanwhile, at least five people in Memphis have been shot in encounters involving task force personnel, four fatally. — Patrik Jonsson, Christian Science Monitor, 14 Oct. 2026

Such encounters allow audiences to ask how an experience becomes a film, and what the filmmaker learns in making it. — Philip Martin, Arkansas Online, 13 Oct. 2026

The 16- and 17-year-old boys were identified Sunday after New Castle County police received information that helped investigators track them down following the encounters in the Mallard Pointe neighborhood. — Greg Wehner, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026

The men have denied wrongdoing, saying that the encounters were consensual or misrepresented in the suit, according to The New York Times. — Mitchell Peters, Billboard, 11 Oct. 2026