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🚧 Illegal entry 🌐 Unwanted influence
encroachment

encroachment

1 7.4
Slow unwanted spreading into an area that changes how people live
  • noun
  • /ɪnˈkroʊtʃmənt/
: invasión
  • Not even governments have been spared the encroachment of markets.
  • urban encroachment
  • encroachment on liberty
  • encroachment on land

And we should, you know, fight to defend that public good against encroachments of of increasing ugliness.

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Examples

  • The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.

    Blog text (9)

  • We have to stop the encroachment of commercial buildings within the historic district.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Other cities are using similar tactics to battle the encroachment of homelessness on their streets and public spaces.

    Blog text (19)

  • The reasons for the encroachment of emerging infectious diseases are complex and not fully understood.

    Academic text (1998)

  • Furthermore, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights reject the encroachment of religious influence even more strongly than the Declaration does.

    Academic text (2005)

  • The loss of cropland in the United States is primarily a function of land quality rather than urban encroachment.

    Academic text (2001)

  • The encroachment of urban development is threatening the local wildlife habitats.

  • Residents are concerned about the encroachment of fast food chains into their neighborhood.

  • The encroachment of invasive plant species is disrupting the native ecosystem.

Synonyms

intrusion
vsencroachment
84 6.6

Entering a place or someone's private life without permission

advances over time into an area rather than a single unwelcome entry
inroad
vsencroachment
24 7.2

Progress that slowly takes away customers or sales, like a new product entering a market

spreads slowly and undesirably into the area
impingement
vsencroachment
  • Formal
1 8.8

An unwanted strong effect of one thing on another

builds influence gradually rather than hitting it strongly and quickly
invasiveness
vsencroachment
  • Specialized
1 7.8

The way a plant, animal, or disease spreads and harms other life

describes the actual gradual spreading action into another area

Antonyms

protection
∞ 1.0

Keeping people or things safe from harm

preservation
125 3.8

Keeping things safe and in good condition, for example food or buildings

How Intrusive

takeover
  • Literature
53 5.4
infiltration
29 7.4
encroachment
1 7.4
penetration
35 4.8
to influence
545 2.2

Surface Forms

encroachment singular
encroachments plural

Morphology

encroachment = encroach (transparent) = encroach + ment

The sense denotes the act or process of encroaching (here applied to influence or area), directly derived from 'encroach' + '-ment'.

Etymology

The word encroachment comes from en- 'in' and an old French root croc 'hook', like the English word hook. Think of something 'hooking' its way into an area little by little; that's why encroachment can mean a gradual and unwanted influence or spread.