Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🏢 To take over 😏 To intrude
to move in on

to move in on

3 7.4
To try to get involved with someone or their work in a way they do not want
  • phrasal verb
  • /muːv ɪn ɒn/
  • NSFW
translation icon : intentar conquistar
  • Harriet is moving in on him.
  • trying to move in on

Examples

  • Creed has started to move in on Balboa.

    Rocky II (1979)

  • I'd like to move in on her right now, tonight.

    Double Indemnity (1944)

  • I'm sorry for moving in on you and a girl that you were interested in.

  • You wanna move in on me without permission, without consideration?

    Doctor Detroit (1983)

  • He just moved in on me.

    Doctor Detroit (1983)

  • You moved in on me didn't you, pal?

    Nickelodeon (1976)

  • She moves in on him.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • He's trying to move in on her after she just broke up with her boyfriend.

  • I noticed another player moving in on my position during the game.

  • She was worried that her colleague would move in on her promotion.

Synonyms

to hit on
vsto move in on
  • NSFW
154 7.8

Try to show romantic or sexual interest in someone by making advances

is more intrusive and can include competitive, not only casual, approaches
to encroach
vsto move in on
27 7.3

To gradually move into someone else's area, space, or rights without permission

is a direct personal advance rather than a slow, gradual intrusion
to accost
vsto move in on
24 8.0

Go up to someone and speak to them in a bold or aggressive way

is an intrusive advance focused on unwanted romantic or competitive moves
to intrude on
vsto move in on
22 4.6

To go into someone's space or life without permission

focuses specifically on making personal advances rather than general interference
to put the moves on
vsto move in on
  • NSFW
10 8.6

Try to attract someone by flirting or making sexual advances

is similar but stresses the advance is unwelcome or competitively intrusive

Antonyms

to retreat
235 4.0

To move back from a place or plan to avoid danger

How Intrusive

to move in on
  • NSFW
3 7.4
to put the moves on
  • NSFW
10 8.6
to hit on
  • NSFW
154 7.8
to flirt
267 3.1

Surface Forms

move in on infinitive
moved in on past
moved in on past participle
moving in on present participle
moves in on third person singular

Morphology

move + in + on

The parts 'move' + 'in' + 'on' literally suggest approaching or entering toward a target, so a learner can infer a basic sense of moving toward someone or something. However, the specific nuance of making unwelcome, often romantic or competitive, advances is a metaphorical extension of that motion and not fully predictable from the constituents alone, so it is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Move in on comes from the picture of a person who moves in on someone else at a party, stepping into their space to get close or interfere. So, the phrase means 'to make unwelcome or intrusive advances'.