creep
Americanverb (used without object)
-
creeps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
crept,
past participle, past
-
creeping
present participle
-
to move slowly with the body close to the ground, as a reptile or an insect, or a person on hands and knees.
-
to approach slowly, imperceptibly, or stealthily (often followed byup ).
We crept up and peeked over the wall.
-
to move or advance slowly or gradually.
The automobile crept up the hill. Time just seems to creep along on these hot summer days.
-
to sneak up behind someone or without someone's knowledge (usually followed byup on ).
The prisoners crept up on the guard and knocked him out.
-
to enter or become evident inconspicuously, gradually, or insidiously (often followed by in orinto: ) The writer's personal bias occasionally creeps into the account.
-
to move or behave timidly or servilely.
-
to grow along the ground, a wall, etc., as a plant.
-
to advance or develop gradually so as to infringe on or supplant something else.
-
Slang.
-
to flirt with or make persistent sexual advances toward someone (often followed byon ).
He creeps on all the women he meets.
-
to cheat on one’s sexual partner.
He caught his wife creepin' with the guy who lives next-door.
-
-
Slang. to follow someone persistently or stealthily, as on a social media website (often followed byon ).
He spends a lot of time creeping on her Facebook profile.
-
Slang. to suddenly intrude into someone’s photograph as it is being taken.
Who’s that creeping in the background of the picture?
-
to slip, slide, or shift gradually; become displaced.
-
(of a metal object) to become deformed, as under continuous loads or at high temperatures.
-
Nautical. to grapple (usually followed byfor ).
The ships crept for their anchor chains.
verb (used with object)
-
creeps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
crept,
past participle, past
-
creeping
present participle
-
Slang. to follow persistently or stealthily, especially online.
I’ve been creeping her blog and found some great recipes.
-
Archaic. to creep along or over.
noun
-
creeps
plural
-
an act or instance of creeping.
It seems as if time has slowed to a creep.
-
Slang. an obnoxious, disturbingly eccentric, deviant, or painfully introverted person.
-
Slang. an intelligence or counterintelligence agent; spy.
-
Slang. creeper.
-
a gradual or inconspicuous increase, advance, change, or development.
Avoid jargon creep in your writing.
We are seeing the steady creep of consumerism.
-
Geology.
-
the gradual movement downhill of loose soil, rock, gravel, etc.; solifluction.
-
the slow deformation of solid rock resulting from constant stress applied over long periods.
-
-
Mechanics. the gradual, permanent deformation of a body produced by a continued application of heat or stress.
-
a grappling iron; grapnel.
-
Firearms. the slack in a trigger mechanism before it releases the firing pin.
-
Informal. the creeps, a sensation of horror, fear, disgust, etc., suggestive of the feeling induced by something crawling over the skin.
That horror movie gave me the creeps.
verb phrase
idioms
verb
-
to crawl with the body near to or touching the ground
-
to move slowly, quietly, or cautiously
-
to act in a servile way; fawn; cringe
-
to move or slip out of place, as from pressure or wear
-
(of plants) to grow along the ground or over rocks, producing roots, suckers, or tendrils at intervals
-
(of a body or substance) to become permanently deformed as a result of an applied stress, often when combined with heating
-
to develop gradually
creeping unrest
-
to have the sensation of something crawling over the skin
-
(of metals) to undergo slow plastic deformation
noun
-
the act of creeping or a creeping movement
-
slang a person considered to be obnoxious or servile
-
the continuous permanent deformation of a body or substance as a result of stress or heat
-
geology the gradual downwards movement of loose rock material, soil, etc, on a slope
-
a slow relative movement of two adjacent parts, structural components, etc
-
slow plastic deformation of metals
Synonym Usage
See crawl 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
creepsimple
-
creepssimple
-
have creptperfect
-
has creptperfect
-
am creepingprogressive
-
are creepingprogressive
-
is creepingprogressive
-
have been creepingperfect progressive
-
has been creepingperfect progressive
Past
-
creptsimple
-
had creptperfect
-
was creepingprogressive
-
were creepingprogressive
-
had been creepingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of creep
First recorded before 900; Middle English crepen, Old English crēopan; cognate with Dutch kruipen, Old Norse krjūpa
Explanation
A beetle creeps along the ground. Moving slowly and silently, it creeps up on you. When you feel the touch of tiny insect legs on your skin, you shudder, because bugs give you the creeps. Creep has a long history and a subtle variety of meanings. In its earliest recorded usage, it described the movement of legless creatures like snakes and worms. By the sixteenth century, creep meant "move slowly" and "move with stealth" like when you creep up to your brother to startle him. Charles Dickens coined the phrase, the creeps, to suggest the shuddering sensation you get when you see something gross and scary. A creep is a person who makes your skin crawl, a meaning that has been used in American English since 1935.
Vocabulary lists containing creep
"Of Mice and Men"
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Common Five-letter Words for Wordle, List 4
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Pace Yourself: Synonyms for "Slow"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Courtney Iseman renders a verdict on this particular type of seasonal creep.
From Slate ● Oct. 14, 2026
“If they’re a creep on Zoom, then I’m not meeting with them in person,” Avi says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
“Ocean water is going to creep up higher than normal,” Phillips said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
As I creep through the heavy fog of Silent Hill: Townfall, I'm met by an oddly familiar sight amid the terror - a sign for a Sunday roast.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
Horrible thoughts creep into my brain, then settle in my gut like a fifth slice of pizza I shouldn’t have eaten.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
But vegetation, starting with grasslands and shifting to forests, creeps back into the swathes wiped out in the explosion and people follow.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
The very name of this vast new police agency with nearly unlimited power gave many of us the creeps.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
"It creeps up on you and you're in it, and so you don't kind of notice what is happening."
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
When Dr. Becky says to greet guilt that creeps in for not knowing this stuff, I do: “Hi, Guilt.”
From Slate ● May 10, 2026
When sleep finally overcomes me, the morning light creeps through my narrow window and forces my weary eyes open again.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
Coca Cola’s stock crept 0.2% higher during the day.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026
The press has been in a panic over the rising yield on the 10-year Treasury, which has crept up 100 basis points this year to 5.29%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Orange is 5-0 for the first time since 2017 and has also crept into the final spot of The Times’ top 25 rankings for the Southland.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
"Over the next decade... ripple effects crept into all manufacturing," he says.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
A giant sea star crept over a crowd of clams.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
If you happen to be swimming in the Salish Sea at night and imagine tiny hairy legs creeping up your body, there is now at least one unsettling reason that image feels plausible.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 25, 2026
His homeowners association fees have been creeping up to nearly $470 per month, and that’s on top of expenses stemming from special assessments he’s had to cough up.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
That shift has the New York Fed quietly asking investors whether new risks are creeping into U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
It is hard not to feel the old message creeping back in with them: wanting less is good.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2026
“Do you miss your friend greatly?” asked Mademoiselle Reisz one morning as she came creeping up behind Edna, who had just left her cottage on her way to the beach.
From "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
