creep up on

Idioms

Advance slowly or stealthily, as in The cat crept up on the bird, or Autumn is creeping up on us. This expression is recorded in slightly different form——from the 15th century on. One of the Hymns to the Virgin and Christ (c. 1430) has “Now age has cropen [crept] up on me ful stille.”

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.

Tom Sparks is watching the miles creep up on the cars he and his wife drive, a 2010 Honda CR-V and a 2014 Toyota Avalon.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 6, 2026

He has the confidence to only dress up his new dystopia a tad, letting the scale of the oppression creep up on you when, say, an açaí bowl salesman casually asks Tereza for her papers.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

Cramps can creep up on those who misjudge their pre-match routine.

From BBC • Feb. 27, 2025

This is a fairly linear storytelling rap, but his approach is frisky and surprising, with lyrics that creep up on you quickly or move at a deliberately slow pace.

From New York Times • Jul. 28, 2023

Determined not to let the past creep up on her, she altered her thought at once.

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023