as in creeping
to advance gradually beyond the usual or desirable limits
each year the sea continues to encroach upon the island's beaches
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Recent Examples of encroaching
The atmosphere of a Gothic novel creeps over you; encroaching mist along the outcroppings.
—
Leanna Renee Hieber, Big Think, 2 Oct. 2025
Bogard ventured to Chile to see how light pollution is encroaching on astronomy and changing our sense of place in the universe, perhaps irrevocably.
—IEEE Spectrum, 1 Oct. 2025
In fact, many fans believe Walt Disney kept newspapers and television sets out of his parks so that guests could be fully immersed in a fantastical world, without reality or politics encroaching.
—Natasha Chen, CNN Money, 25 Sep. 2025
Washington’s only voice in Congress criticized the bills for encroaching on the district’s governance.
—Ross O'Keefe, The Washington Examiner, 17 Sep. 2025
Are other people’s money problems encroaching on your bottom line?
—Usa Today, USA Today, 17 Sep. 2025
Instead, vague references to a second Civil War invoke our current reality, with its stark ideological divides, encroaching political violence, and calls for retribution that have only escalated in recent days.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2025
And despite the encroaching waves, which nibbled more of our NewFarms every month.
—Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025
With 26 million active or funded customer accounts, Robinhood is fast encroaching on incumbents like Charles Schwab (37 million) and is six times larger than Merrill Lynch.
—Martina Castellanos, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
Leanna Renee Hieber, Big Think, 2 Oct. 2025
Bogard ventured to Chile to see how light pollution is encroaching on astronomy and changing our sense of place in the universe, perhaps irrevocably.
—IEEE Spectrum, 1 Oct. 2025
In fact, many fans believe Walt Disney kept newspapers and television sets out of his parks so that guests could be fully immersed in a fantastical world, without reality or politics encroaching.
—Natasha Chen, CNN Money, 25 Sep. 2025
Washington’s only voice in Congress criticized the bills for encroaching on the district’s governance.
—Ross O'Keefe, The Washington Examiner, 17 Sep. 2025
Are other people’s money problems encroaching on your bottom line?
—Usa Today, USA Today, 17 Sep. 2025
Instead, vague references to a second Civil War invoke our current reality, with its stark ideological divides, encroaching political violence, and calls for retribution that have only escalated in recent days.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2025
And despite the encroaching waves, which nibbled more of our NewFarms every month.
—Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025
With 26 million active or funded customer accounts, Robinhood is fast encroaching on incumbents like Charles Schwab (37 million) and is six times larger than Merrill Lynch.
—Martina Castellanos, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for encroaching
Verb
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The latest forecast shows Imelda creeping along Florida’s coast for the next few days — a slowdown from Saturday’s forecast.—
Alex Harris
Updated September 28,
Miami Herald,
28 Sep. 2025
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First, during this same time, genre elements, and specifically dark speculative elements, were creeping into all fiction.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
PEOPLE,
28 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Even setting aside its usual criticisms (antisocial, privacy-invading, a bad omen for human connection), the necklace simply didn’t work as advertised.—
Jordan Blum,
Fortune,
3 Oct. 2025
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The invading parasite is a culture of hate and paranoia and sadism — mass hysteria as sanctioned by the government that is supposed to protect you.—
Rachel Raposas,
PEOPLE,
29 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Encroaching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/encroaching. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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