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🚧 Illegal entry 🌐 Unwanted influence
encroachment

encroachment

4 7.4
Slow unwanted spreading into an area that changes how people live
  • noun
  • /ɪnˈkroʊtʃmənt/
translation icon : 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
85 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
974 1.0

Keeping people or things safe from harm

preservation
90 3.8

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

How Intrusive

takeover
  • Literature
84 5.4
infiltration
23 7.4
encroachment
4 7.4
penetration
22 4.8
to influence
591 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.