inching 1 of 2

adjective

1
as in imperceptible

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2
as in ambling

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inching

2 of 2

verb

present participle of inch
1
as in encroaching
to advance gradually beyond the usual or desirable limits every year the water inches further up the embankments, threatening to permanently engulf the island city

Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in dragging
to move slowly the car inched carefully across the snow-covered causeway

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of inching
Verb
The idiosyncratic biopic makes the right choices, giving us in a sliver of time the dailiness of a working life with its gossip, money worries, and ongoing projects dwindling or cresting or inching forward. — Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2026 Just as a cooldown brought relief following record-breaking October heat, temperatures will begin inching up on Wednesday, with winds continuing to pick up. — Julie Sharp, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026 The most frightening risk is AI creators losing control of their models, a once abstract possibility that may be inching closer to reality. — Emily Forlini, Fortune, 13 Oct. 2026 Each of those men, in his own way, is inching closer to opportunities for parole and release. — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2026 My first inkling that dramatic lips may be inching toward a comeback came courtesy Florence Pugh at the premiere of her new Netflix series, East of Eden. — Kara Nesvig, Allure, 8 Oct. 2026 Woodland Hills reached 106, inching past the prior record of 105 set in 2025. — Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2026 Five years later, as the assembly meets this week, the world's climate commitments are dangerously offtrack, and the phase down of coal is inching along. — ABC News, 26 Sep. 2026 The video shows the water inching along its path slower than a boy calmly walking ahead of it. — Dale Denwalt, Oklahoman, 22 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inching
  1. imperceptible
  2. plodding
  3. encroaching
  4. dragging
  5. tapered
  6. lingering
  7. creeping
  8. loitering
Adjective
  • Instead, his team developed SynthID, an imperceptible, incorruptible digital watermark now stamped to anything generated by Google AI, but also OpenAI, Nvidia, Kakao, and, soon, Apple.
    — Daniel Varghese, Time, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Through a meditative duet between the performer’s cognition and their autonomic nervous system, activities that were largely imperceptible to an outside observer became known to the performer.
    — Sophie Landres, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of imperceptible
Adjective
  • Bennie Liebenberg, a former geologist at the mine who was serving as our guide, has the plodding, slightly wide-eyed manner of someone who has spent a lot of time underground.
    — James Dinneen, New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2026
  • During the early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, activists from the gay community lambasted him and his institute for the plodding pace of research on the virus.
    — Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 28 July 2026
Definition of plodding
Verb
  • The animal started encroaching on people’s houses day and night.
    — Fedor Zarkhin, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Yet the snap decision to have Danantara take over exports—announced by Prabowo in May—has unnerved analysts who worry about encroaching state control of the economy, as well as at the sovereign wealth fund.
    — Angelica Ang, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of encroaching
Verb
  • Count seats against your guest list, then throw down floor cushions or a blanket pile instead of dragging in extra chairs.
    — Lauren Schuster, Miami Herald, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Plus, because most wide-legs have longer inseams, a low heel prevents them from dragging on the ground.
    — Eva Thomas, InStyle, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of dragging
Adjective
  • The sandals feature a sharp pointed toe, featuring an elegant tapered silhouette, a slim ankle strap with a silver buckle and a stiletto heel measuring 105 mm, which is around four inches.
    — Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The duo launches alongside a tapered blending brush designed for gentle, precise application on the delicate skin under your eyes.
    — Maggie Ryan, Flow Space, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of tapered
Adjective
  • Shohei Ohtani returned to the top of the Dodgers’ lineup Monday after four days off to address lingering aches, as the club effectively pauses its pitching program for the two-way star.
    — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep. 2026
  • No more distractions, no more lingering questions, just a baller who loves this sport and continues to level up.
    — Colton Pouncy, New York Times, 31 July 2026
Definition of lingering
Verb
  • Gusts of more than 60 mph are possible in parts of the Outer Banks with 40 to 50 mph gusts creeping toward the Interstate 95 corridor in North Carolina and southern Virginia.
    — Mary Gilbert, CNN Money, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Graduate unemployment is at 23 percent, white-collar job growth has slowed to a creeping one percent this year, and nearly a quarter of Indians between the ages of 15 and 29 are not in employment, education, or training programs.
    — Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of creeping
Adjective
  • Some victim advocates say human trafficking along Figueroa has escalated since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rollback of anti-loitering laws.
    — Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
Definition of loitering

Browse Nearby Words

inches
inching
inchmeal
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Cite this Entry

“Inching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inching. Accessed 25 Oct. 2026.

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