encroach
Americanverb (used without object)
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encroaches,
present (3rd person singular)
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encroached,
past participle, past
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encroaching
present participle
-
to advance beyond proper, established, or usual limits; make gradual inroads.
A dictatorship of the majority is encroaching on the rights of the individual.
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to trespass upon the property, domain, or rights of another, especially stealthily or by gradual advances.
verb
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to intrude gradually, stealthily, or insidiously upon the rights, property, etc, of another
-
to advance beyond the usual or proper limits
Synonym Usage
See trespass.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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encroachsimple
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encroachessimple
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have encroachedperfect
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has encroachedperfect
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am encroachingprogressive
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are encroachingprogressive
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is encroachingprogressive
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have been encroachingperfect progressive
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has been encroachingperfect progressive
Past
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encroachedsimple
-
had encroachedperfect
-
was encroachingprogressive
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were encroachingprogressive
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had been encroachingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of encroach
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English encrochen, from Anglo-French encrocher, Old French encrochier “to catch hold of, seize,” equivalent to en- en- 1 + -crochier, verbal derivative of croc “hook,” from Germanic; see crooked, crook 1
Explanation
To encroach is to overstep your bounds, to take over space or rights that belong to another, like your brother whose mess always encroaches on your side of the room you share. The verb encroach comes from the Old French word encrochier, meaning “seize, fasten on, catch with a hook.” If others slowly take over what belongs to you, they encroach, like people who encroach on your personal space at a crowded concert, or someone whose questions get more and more personal, which encroaches on your privacy.
Vocabulary lists containing encroach
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
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American Football, 3rd Quarter
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"A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Books occupy a unique place within physical media — one of the last forms that does not track, monitor, or encroach on the humans who read them.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
“Now we’re able to encroach upon the eye time.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
She initially welcomed the project, before realising the airport would encroach on her land.
From Barron's ● May 18, 2026
Roughly midway through, Pynchon’s characters hightail it all the way to proto-fascist Budapest, where shadows more lethal than any Tommy gun begin to encroach.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2025
It was true, the trees did encroach on our little clearing.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
In fact across the region mitumba traders and local clothing manufacturers say cheap clothing from China is the real danger as it encroaches on both their markets.
From BBC ● May 23, 2026
It has also begun the construction of a wall that encroaches on Lebanese territory, according to Unifil, the United Nations peacekeeping force.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 20, 2025
Throughout the play, this “law and order” blue encroaches on the existence of every color selected by Torres.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2025
Even when they aren't being poached, apes are threatened by habitat loss as human civilization increasingly encroaches on their natural habitats.
From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2024
Since only 10 percent of thru-hikers make it this far, and it is too distant for most day hikers, the trail in Maine is much more thinly used, and so the foliage encroaches.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
The meta-reality and meta-commentary of the broadcast encroached on and eventually overtook the game on the field.
From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2026
Although the technology has encroached on people’s everyday lives in small and large ways, this seemed to be a more egregious example of it in housing.
From Slate ● Oct. 17, 2025
By the 1860s, the U.S. government reduced the Crow’s land to a much smaller strip, and the park’s creation further encroached on tribal lands.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025
Once known for its network of lakes that helped manage excess rainwater, Bengaluru has seen many of these water bodies encroached upon.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2025
Nature had come into her own again and, little by little, in her stealthy, insidious way had encroached upon the drive with long tenacious fingers.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
This 2.5-inch lizard lives exclusively in the West Texas dunes, where oil and gas production has been encroaching on its territory, the groups argued.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
And developers have been encroaching on the peaceful coastal village, but "we're still resisting them", she said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
CME Group sued the top U.S. derivatives regulator Thursday to thwart Kalshi, an upstart prediction-markets platform, from encroaching on its turf as the nation’s leading futures exchange.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
Gyms are positioning themselves as alternative spaces for socialising, its senior director of leisure and trends Paul Davies says, which is "encroaching on the traditional role of bars and nightclubs".
From BBC ● Mar. 21, 2026
It warmed Meggie’s heart just to see it, but all too often it disappeared behind the tall, ugly buildings covering the narrow strip of land that lay between the water and the encroaching hills.
From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
