encroached

past tense of encroach
as in crept
to advance gradually beyond the usual or desirable limits each year the sea continues to encroach upon the island's beaches

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 encroached However, the brand’s initial dominance has gradually waned, according to insiders, as competing brands have encroached on Fenty Beauty’s market share. — Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 6 Oct. 2026 Wildfires encroached on major European cities, a once unthinkable threat. — Justin Worland, Time, 3 Oct. 2026 But gambling, for me, encroached on parts of my life that had not, until recently, felt like transactions. — Dan Horn, Cincinnati Enquirer, 20 Sep. 2026 In what his dad (Ed Harris) calls the decline of humanity, the club is being encroached on by pickleballers clamoring for more courts. — Christine Ledbetter, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2026 But the somatosensory cortex, the touch cortex, has like encroached upon it. — Quanta Magazine, 6 Aug. 2026 But the judges who dissented agreed with advocates who have argued that the law was vague and encroached on their First Amendment rights. — Miami Herald, 5 Aug. 2026 Stark said developers have encroached on her community in Chandler. — Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com, 21 July 2026 Lawyers for both YouTube and Meta also consistently posed questions throughout the trial about whether the evidence and arguments encroached on legal protections for tech companies around content posted by third parties. — Kaitlyn Huamani, Fortune, 15 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for encroached
Verb
  • Europe has crept back on the scene in a real negative way, this time with France on the hot seat.
    — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 12 Oct. 2026
  • The aberrant digit only crept in because Ford owned the rights to Model E and wasn’t interested in selling.
    — Jason Barlow, Robb Report, 11 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • In 2014, Russia invaded Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, and Western banks pulled back on lending to Russians.
    — Nathan Heller, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Romania first shot down drones this year, marking its first such action since Moscow invaded neighboring Ukraine.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 18 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • At Yohji Yamamoto, a long strand of eyelashes cascaded down from a model’s lower eyelid and snaked against her face.
    — Jennifer Weil, Footwear News, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Demands for the exclusive event pins exceeded common sense and ventured into the absurd with haphazard lines that snaked through the convention center.
    — Gieson Cacho, Mercury News, 31 Aug. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Encroached.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/encroached. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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