intrusive

[in-troo-siv]

adjective

1. tending or apt to intrude; coming without invitation or welcome.

   intrusive memories of a lost love.

   Synonyms: disturbing, irritating, troublesome, worrisome, irksome, bothersome, annoying

2. characterized by or involving intrusion.

3. intruding; thrusting in.

4. Geology.

   1. (of a rock) having been forced between preexisting rocks or rock layers while in a molten or plastic condition.

   2. noting or pertaining to plutonic rocks.

5. Phonetics.,  excrescent.

intrusive

/ ɪnˈtruːsɪv /

adjective

1. characterized by intrusion or tending to intrude

2. (of igneous rocks) formed by intrusion Compare extrusive

3. phonetics relating to or denoting a speech sound that is introduced into a word or piece of connected speech for a phonetic rather than a historical or grammatical reason, such as the (r) often pronounced between idea and of in the idea of it

Other Word Forms

• intrusiveness noun
• intrusively adverb
• nonintrusive adjective
• nonintrusively adverb
• unintrusive adjective
• unintrusively adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of intrusive¹

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; intrusion, -ive

Example Sentences

Their spokesperson, Hat Porter, described it as a "superficial quick fix for wider systemic issues" and said many patients' experiences of the technology were "intrusive, undignified, dehumanising and traumatising".

Read more on BBC

Interestingly, Moscow’s resistance to intrusive verification was not always due to its efforts to conceal treaty violations.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Crowding has become a testy issue around Vermont, where small towns have taken aim at intrusive leaf-peeping visitors by shutting down scenic roads and ramping up parking enforcement—even towing vehicles.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Updike stuck up for himself when faced with the magazine’s intrusively correct fiddling: In 1958 he sent one editor, William Maxwell, an unwavering paragraph against a single word.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The drill sergeant endures intrusive questioning by superiors, choosing to lie about it, but flashbacks reveal a romantic relationship with another serviceman, Maj.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• invasive 
• nosy