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
For instance, Williams’s looping descriptions of the encroaching wilderness can be quite compelling, but there is something off about them.
—
Hannah Gold, New Yorker, 17 June 2026
Having trekked the territory with his trusty surveyor’s compass, and in the absence of anyone else rash enough to do it, Washington volunteers to deliver an ultimatum to the encroaching French forces.
—James Parker, The Atlantic, 16 June 2026
Brian Crawford and his wife Laura helped form the nonprofit, Protect the Paluxy Valley, to fight against encroaching development impacting the rural area.
—Elizabeth Campbell, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 June 2026
The informal gathering is typically off to the side in the back of the arena, with media members milling around but not encroaching on their space.
—Sam Amick, New York Times, 10 June 2026
Immersive experiences like Meow Wolf, Activate Games, or the Sphere in Las Vegas are also encroaching, offering visitors something truly novel (no offense to funnel cakes).
—HubSpot, 1 June 2026
Jurado noted that tongues of salt water are already encroaching into some of the freshwater areas of South Florida.
—Bill Kearney, Sun Sentinel, 23 May 2026
But Google’s Gemini is now encroaching into emails and calendars, photos and file storage.
—Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 23 May 2026
And, make no mistake about it, these two hyperscalers are encroaching on Nvidia's turf with their in-house custom artificial intelligence chips.
—Matthew J. Belvedere, CNBC, 20 May 2026
Hannah Gold, New Yorker, 17 June 2026
Having trekked the territory with his trusty surveyor’s compass, and in the absence of anyone else rash enough to do it, Washington volunteers to deliver an ultimatum to the encroaching French forces.
—James Parker, The Atlantic, 16 June 2026
Brian Crawford and his wife Laura helped form the nonprofit, Protect the Paluxy Valley, to fight against encroaching development impacting the rural area.
—Elizabeth Campbell, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 June 2026
The informal gathering is typically off to the side in the back of the arena, with media members milling around but not encroaching on their space.
—Sam Amick, New York Times, 10 June 2026
Immersive experiences like Meow Wolf, Activate Games, or the Sphere in Las Vegas are also encroaching, offering visitors something truly novel (no offense to funnel cakes).
—HubSpot, 1 June 2026
Jurado noted that tongues of salt water are already encroaching into some of the freshwater areas of South Florida.
—Bill Kearney, Sun Sentinel, 23 May 2026
But Google’s Gemini is now encroaching into emails and calendars, photos and file storage.
—Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 23 May 2026
And, make no mistake about it, these two hyperscalers are encroaching on Nvidia's turf with their in-house custom artificial intelligence chips.
—Matthew J. Belvedere, CNBC, 20 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for encroaching
Verb
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But the sheer brutality and creeping terror of the simplistic opening scene makes the rest of the film — with its gratuitous set pieces and CGI gore — seem much more inelegant.—
Brianna Zigler,
Entertainment Weekly,
15 June 2026
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This is particularly true for people with mild hypertension or those whose blood pressure has just started creeping into the elevated range.—
Maggie O'Neill,
Verywell Health,
12 June 2026
Verb
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There were no smartphones documenting every moment, no social media outrage cycles and no political tribalism invading every corner of daily life.—
Mike Bianchi,
The Orlando Sentinel,
10 June 2026
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Nothing but smoke and fires roaming freely, invading even our graves.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
9 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Encroaching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/encroaching. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
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