Synonyms

penetrate

American

[pen-i-treyt] / 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

It would be hard to penetrate the heavy security perimeter around the summit and Trump, the U.S. officials assessed, especially with such a conspicuous weapon.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

Davidson’s Luria agreed that Apple’s strong global brand should still help it penetrate the crowded budget-laptop market well beyond the U.S.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 2, 2026

They were developed by the Army to penetrate a steel helmet from a faraway distance.

From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026

Fine particles in the smoke, which can vary depending on what is being burned, can penetrate deep into your lungs and even enter your bloodstream causing illness.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

“Remember, no matter what he claims, you’re completely safe. His magic can’t penetrate the enchanted glass that holds him.”

From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston

By being forced to conceal their feminist values, she argues women are being stripped of their ability to fight against gender inequality, which penetrates workplaces, politics and public life.

From BBC ● Jan. 11, 2025

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

One study, conducted on participants who did a series of squats designed to make their quadriceps sore, suggested that moist heat penetrates deeper into tissue faster and works more quickly than dry heat.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 3, 2024

He likens the brain to a leaky bucket, where the water level is the amount of dye that penetrates it.

From Science Magazine ● May 24, 2024

It penetrates the heart and takes the warmth away.

From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan

Several centuries-old trees have been lost, as the fire penetrated their root systems, Forestry England said.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 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

The contrast suggests that solar wind particles penetrated much farther into the far side regolith.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026

Salinas was surrounded and penetrated with swamps, with tule-filled ponds, and every pond spawned thousands of frogs.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

In the 1980s, while Sharp, HP and Casio marketed their scientific calculators to professionals, Texas Instruments was focused on penetrating the education space.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026

The long-range Ukrainian drones now penetrating deep inside the country.

From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026

Nothing is more sublime than transitioning from Jimin’s penetrating vocals of “You know how we do!” on “2.0” directly to the deep reverberations of the ancient bell that soothe and reset.

From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026

In terms of penetrating the code of silence, “the police are easier to crack than firefighters,” she added.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2026

This difference in their points of view did not prevent Copley from endowing Revere’s portrait with an ingenious significance and penetrating characterization.

From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson

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