invasion

American  

[in-vay-zhuhn] / ɪnˈveɪ ʒən /

noun

• invasions
  plural

1. an act or instance of invading or entering as an enemy, especially by an army.

2. the entrance or advent of anything troublesome or harmful, as disease.

3. entrance as if to take possession or overrun.

   the annual invasion of the resort by tourists.

4. infringement by intrusion.

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invasion British  

/ ɪnˈveɪʒən /

noun

1. the act of invading with armed forces

2. any encroachment or intrusion

   an invasion of rats

3. the onset or advent of something harmful, esp of a disease

4. pathol the spread of cancer from its point of origin into surrounding tissues

5. the movement of plants to a new area or to an area to which they are not native

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• reinvasion
  noun
• preinvasion
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• invasions
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of invasion

1400–50; late Middle English < Late Latin invāsīon- (stem of invāsiō ), equivalent to invās ( us ), past participle of invādere + -iōn- -ion; see invade

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Explanation

An invasion is the movement of an army into a region, usually in a hostile attack that's part of a war or conflict. World history is full of descriptions of invasions. One country's army plundering or taking over a city or piece of land in another country is an invasion. You can call other mass movements invasions as well, like a horrifying invasion of your kitchen by cockroaches, or the invasion of a stadium by excited soccer fans. A common phrase is "invasion of privacy," which means an unfair intrusion into someone's personal space or private information.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

invasion invasions

And it will be cast globally, to figures doing what is necessary to save their country from invasion.

From Slate ● Oct. 17, 2026

"On a personal level I allowed these men in my home. I made them drinks. They met my dogs. It's an entirely disgusting invasion of personal privacy."

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

The study, "Large size of the Australian Indigenous population prior to its massive decline following colonial invasion," was published in Nature Human Behaviour.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026

Drones have emerged as a key weapon in the conflict, which was sparked by Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of its neighbour.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026

The Allies combine land, air, and sea forces and plan a meticulous invasion of Normandy, France.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

The search for the source of the medbed conspiracy took me into the world of scammers and crystals and alien invasions and broken families and sci-fi movie sets and the Arizona desert.

From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026

In both of these misguided invasions, Americans convinced themselves that Canadians did not exist, at least not as a people or a nation with a shared collective identity.

From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026

Sequoia’s Mineral King Valley has become such a hot spot for marmot car invasions that the National Park Service warns “You Are Entering Marmot Country.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

Castro is remembered by supporters as having guided Cuba through multiple crises -- US-backed invasions, embargoes, assassination plots and the intense hardship caused by the collapse of Cuba's main ally and benefactor, the Soviet Union.

From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026

In political organization, Polynesian islands ranged from landscapes divided into independent tribal or village units, up to multi-island proto-empires that devoted standing military establishments to invasions of other islands and wars of conquest.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

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Related Words

• aggression
• assault
• breach
• incursion
• infiltration
• infringement
• intrusion
• offensive
• onslaught
• raid
• violation

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