to creep in
14
4.9
- phrasal verb
- /krip ɪn/
:
colarse
- If that starts creeping in your mind, then you leave.
- began to creep in
When does that start to creep in and rear itself?
- When does that start to creep in and rear itself?
- And that doubt crept in for the rest of the week.
- Sometimes issues like the fear of being alone can creep in as well.
- Because there's so many ways that, you know, biases can creep in there.
- Then I had a fear that that was going to creep in when I was sober, and over time it did.
- And when is self-interest creeping in?
- That's when it happened, and then it started to creep back in at times in different situations.
- And I'd say every three months for the next year, it would start to creep back in.
- So if I put those immovable objects in place, then it's not the end of the world if a little extra work creeps in, right?
- And the anxiety and depression and all the sort of side effects of ADHD began to really creep in.
- There's a lot of thing, a lot of fears and issues creep in when people do not heal.
- And I felt the the thoughts that crept in were you are going to get bad.
- But then that that thought crept in like, well, how are we going to finance this?
- OK, so and sometimes like the Arabic creeps in on that and they go no, no, no, no, no.
- And as real life creeps in, those narcissists will waddle on over to the Internet.
Examples
-
The self-doubt starts to creep in.
-
Negative thoughts can easily creep in during times of stress, making it hard to focus.
-
Sometimes issues like the fear of being alone can creep in as well.
-
And so that kind of started to creep in my mind that maybe I needed to make a change to a different sport.
-
When does that start to creep in and rear itself?
-
Then I had a fear that that was going to creep in when I was sober, and over time it did.
-
But I always have this doubt that creeps in to say, are you good enough?
-
And that doubt crept in for the rest of the week.
-
When ambiguity creeps in, we are not being fair to the students.
Academic text (1996) -
Again, the temptation creeps in, but like I said, your tolerance is temporary.
Synonyms
75
3.8
To go into a place quietly so no one notices
19
4.4
To add a small comment quietly to a conversation or text
Antonyms
How Gradual
25
3.0
14
4.9
19
4.4
- Informal
75
3.8
21
3.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to enter or become noticeable gradually or surreptitiously' is directly derivable from combining 'creep' (to move slowly or sneak) with the particle 'in' (into/inside), yielding a sense of sneaking or gradually entering. This motion/particle composition is a common and transparent pattern in English (and in many other languages), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can reasonably infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The phrasal verb creep in comes from the image of creep meaning 'to move slowly and quietly' and in meaning 'into a place', like light or a mouse slipping slowly under a door. That's why it means 'to appear slowly' or 'to start without being noticed'.