Synonyms

penetrate

American

[pen-i-trayt] / ˈpɛn ɪˌtreɪt /

verb (used with object)

to pierce or pass into or through.

The bullet penetrated the wall. The fog lights penetrated the mist.
to enter the interior of.

to penetrate a forest.
to enter and diffuse itself through; permeate.
to arrive at the truth or meaning of; understand; comprehend.

to penetrate a mystery.

Synonyms:

discern, fathom
to obtain a share of (a market).

to penetrate the Canadian coffee market.
to affect or impress (the mind or feelings) deeply.

Synonyms:

touch
to extend influence, usually peacefully, into the affairs of (another country).

verb (used without object)

to enter, reach, or pass through something, as by piercing.

We penetrated to the interior of the Kasbah.
to be diffused through something.
to understand or read the meaning of something.
to have a deep effect or impact on someone.

penetrate British

/ ˈpɛnɪˌtreɪt /

verb

to find or force a way into or through (something); pierce; enter
to diffuse through (a substance); permeate
(tr) to see through

their eyes could not penetrate the fog
(tr) (of a man) to insert the penis into the vagina of (a woman)
(tr) to grasp the meaning of (a principle, etc)
(intr) to be understood

his face lit up as the new idea penetrated

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Synonym Usage

See pierce.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of penetrate

First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin penetrātus “entered the interior of,” past participle of penetrāre “to enter the interior of,” from penet-, variant stem of penitus “deep down” + -āre, infinitive verb suffix, with the vowel change and addition of -r- probably by analogy with intus “inside,” intrāre “to enter” ( see enter ( def. ))

Explanation

To penetrate is to force into or pierce through. If the fog is thick as pea soup, your flashlight won’t penetrate it. If you stubbornly ignore good advice, people might say nothing can penetrate that thick skull of yours. We get penetrate from the Latin word penetrare, which combines penes ("within") and intrare ("to enter"). Penetrate crops up most often to describe entering or permeating. Blaring music penetrated every corner of the dorm and we wondered how anyone could study with that racket. Penetrate can also mean to decipher or understand: "Careful study allowed us to penetrate the mysteries of Pig Latin." Finally — no surprise, given its Latin roots — the word can be used to describe sexual intercourse.

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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:

penetrate penetrates penetrated penetrating

Probing it, they discovered that OpenAI agents had attempted to penetrate sites belonging to the Australian government.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

At this stage, high energy radiation from the young star can penetrate the thinning material and heat gas in the disk until it escapes.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026

The frequencies from the BioCharger’s three coils and light from the tubes are said to penetrate the user’s cell walls to balance their cellular makeup, creating relaxation, clarity and, ultimately, fulfilling the user’s desired “recipe.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

These tiny particles can penetrate deep into the lungs, enter the bloodstream and have been linked to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, lung cancer and premature death.

From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026

She had it washed and painted, changed the furniture, restored the garden and planted new flowers, and opened doors and windows so that the dazzling light of summer would penetrate even into the bedrooms.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Another idea is that heat penetrates beneath the surface, builds pressure, and eventually releases a shell of dust into space.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 21, 2026

Mr Dorn said that before leaving their home, he had moved his electronics up to their loft, hoping that even if seawater penetrates the building it would not reach the rafters.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2025

Light barely penetrates a few meters below the surface, so satellites cannot see deeper seagrass patches.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 26, 2024

Potholes occur when water penetrates the surface of the road and affects the underlying base material, said Jennifer De Prez, a city spokesperson.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2024

People talk to me, and I nod along, but absolutely nothing penetrates.

From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli

The Scottish arm of Operation Venetic has resulted in more than 60 arrests since 2020 when the National Crime Agency penetrated a secret communications system used by criminals.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

Her eyes penetrated mine as I waited for a loud Tibetan gong to sound.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

In one fell swoop, The Beatles penetrated two more demographics.

From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026

During this time, certain “Western” ideas penetrated Russia’s religious consciousness; “holy war” was possibly one of these.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

And at last it penetrated my numbed brain that the emergency had come.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

VENUS, by contrast, produces high-energy neutrons capable of penetrating deeper into large objects and generating detailed 3D images.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026

On Sunday rescue workers in China recovered twelve bodies in the Nepal-Tibet border, using excavators, shovels and ground penetrating radar at the site.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

The U.S. already has the heavy oil it needs to meet diesel demand, and Venezuela will have little chance penetrating the U.S. market as long as cost of carry weighs heavily in Canada’s favor.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Companies are boosting their usage of AI, with the technology now penetrating one in five U.S. businesses, per the U.S.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026

She asked early, she asked often, and she asked penetrating questions about the work.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

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