intruder
Britishnoun
Explanation
An intruder is someone who enters a place or situation despite not being invited. If a Girl Scout comes to your door to sell you cookies but ends up trying to watch TV with you, you can call her an intruder. Some intruders are robbers who break into homes or businesses with the intent to steal things: "The intruder was charged with trespassing, and later was found to have stolen some jewelry and cash." Other intruders might instead invade someone's privacy. Intruder comes from the verb intrude, from the Latin root intrudere, "to thrust in," a combination of in- and trudere, "to thrust or to push."
Vocabulary lists containing intruder
Island of the Blue Dolphins
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"Fear" and "Violence Hits Home"
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"Time Trip: Sudan’s Civil War" and "Sudanese Tribes Confront Modern War"
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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.
The opposite of a guard dog: Golden retriever begs to play with intruder in San Diego break-in.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026
The other intruder, who was noticeably taller, disappeared into the hallway.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
Arguments broke out, the crowd rumbled, and one younger woman suggested that an ill-tempered intruder needed to “dance hrself clean.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
Zollinger’s patrol partner slid into the crawl space after the suspected intruder.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
“Be gone, daughter! I will deal with this intruder how I see fit.”
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
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.
