creep
1 of 2verb
ˈkrēp 
crept ˈkrept ; creeping
; creeping intransitive verb
1
a
: to move along with the body prone and close to the ground
A spider was creeping along the bathroom floor.
b
: to move slowly on hands and knees
He crept toward the edge of the cliff.
2
a
: to go very slowly
The hours crept by.
b
: to go timidly or cautiously so as to escape notice
She crept away from the festive scene.
c
: to enter or advance gradually so as to be almost unnoticed
Age creeps up on us.
A note of irritation crept into her voice.
3
: to have the sensation of being covered with creeping things
The thought made his flesh creep.
4
of a plant : to spread or grow over a surface rooting at intervals or clinging with tendrils, stems, or aerial roots
5
a
: to slip or gradually shift position
The high temperatures of the jet engine cause the turbine blade to creep.
b
: to change shape permanently from prolonged stress or exposure to high temperatures
creep
2 of 2noun
1
: a movement of or like creeping
traffic moving at a creep
2
: a distressing sensation like that caused by the creeping of insects over one's flesh
especially : a feeling of apprehension or horror —usually used in plural with the
That gives me the creeps.
3
: a feed trough accessible only by young animals and used especially to supply special or supplementary feed
called also creep feeder
4
: the slow change of dimensions of an object from prolonged exposure to high temperature or stress
5
: an unpleasant or obnoxious person
6
: a slow but persistent increase or elevation
This political inertia … makes budget creep inevitable.—
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
Synonyms
Verb
- encroach
- inch
- worm
Noun
- bastard
- beast
- bleeder [British]
- blighter [chiefly British]
- boor
- bounder
- bugger
- buzzard
- cad
- chuff
- churl
- clown
- cretin
- crud [slang]
- crumb [slang]
- cur
- dirtbag [slang]
- dog
- fink
- heel
- hound
- jerk
- joker
- louse
- lout
- pill
- rat
- rat fink
- reptile
- rotter
- schmuck [slang]
- scum
- scumbag [slang]
- scuzzball [slang]
- skunk
- sleaze
- sleazebag [slang]
- sleazeball [slang]
- slime
- slimeball [slang]
- slob
- snake
- so-and-so
- sod [chiefly British]
- stinkard
- stinker
- swine
- toad
- varmint
- vermin
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Verb She crept toward the edge of the roof and looked over. I caught him creeping down the stairs to the kitchen. She crept into bed next to her sleeping husband. The hours crept by as we waited for morning. a train creeping through the town The price of gasoline has crept back up to three dollars a gallon. A few mistakes crept in during the last revision of the paper. new words creeping into the language Noun I get the creeps every time he walks by. I hate snakes. They give me the creeps. That guy gives me the creeps. See More
Recent Examples on the WebCaitlin Gibson, Washington Post, 17 Jan. 2023 Over her 40-plus years as a clinical psychologist and author who works with families and children, Alvord has seen parental anxiety creep steadily upward. —Caitlin Gibson, Anchorage Daily News, 17 Jan. 2023 The rust has shaken off, and at the midway point of the regular season, the thought of playoff basketball begins to creep into coaches’ minds. —Dallas News, 26 Dec. 2022 Widespread subzero wind chills may creep into Texas and parts of the Deep South through the week's end, the weather service said. —Ashley R. Williams, USA TODAY, 21 Dec. 2022 Then sales started to creep into Thanksgiving Day itself, and then came Cyber Monday. —Medea Giordano Gear Team, WIRED, 26 Nov. 2022 The low-levels have allowed saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico to creep into the river. —Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 25 Oct. 2022 More kind of modernist ideas start to creep into your life. —Vulture, 14 Oct. 2022 With stop-motion, the labor-intensive process of building and manipulating a miniature world by hand invariably allows real life to creep into the frame; Lee joked that her golden retriever’s fur made it into every shot. —Yoo Lee, The New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2022 Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 12 Jan. 2023 Conservationists argue that the easy availability of public land has caused a creep toward ever-larger projects and diminished our imagination for solar’s versatility. —Hillary Angelo, Harper’s Magazine , 12 Dec. 2022 Podcasting had already been on a slow creep toward relevance, but Serial vaulted the whole thing into the mainstream with 10 million downloads in just seven weeks. —Vulture, 22 Sep. 2022 Is Paul a cursed narcissist coping with his loneliness by retreating into harmless fantasy, or a delusional creep whose extensive lies and disturbing patterns of harassment, even abuse, will be exposed? —Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2023 My credit card creep’s first move was to charge about $60 at a restaurant. —Shira Ovide, Washington Post, 27 Jan. 2023 The plot is pretty routine, but its finer points about religious faith and rituals give the creep-outs and jump-scares real nuance. —Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2023 Ah, mid-January, when the New Year's resolutions fall away, and Netflix and lethargy creep in. —Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 13 Jan. 2023 Under the huge pressures deep underground, atoms from the material below can fill in these cracks in the structure in a process called dislocation creep. —Phil Plait, Scientific American, 5 Jan. 2023 See More
Verb
Over her 40-plus years as a clinical psychologist and author who works with families and children, Alvord has seen parental anxiety creep steadily upward. —Caitlin Gibson, Washington Post, 17 Jan. 2023 Over her 40-plus years as a clinical psychologist and author who works with families and children, Alvord has seen parental anxiety creep steadily upward. —Caitlin Gibson, Anchorage Daily News, 17 Jan. 2023 The rust has shaken off, and at the midway point of the regular season, the thought of playoff basketball begins to creep into coaches’ minds. —Dallas News, 26 Dec. 2022 Widespread subzero wind chills may creep into Texas and parts of the Deep South through the week's end, the weather service said. —Ashley R. Williams, USA TODAY, 21 Dec. 2022 Then sales started to creep into Thanksgiving Day itself, and then came Cyber Monday. —Medea Giordano Gear Team, WIRED, 26 Nov. 2022 The low-levels have allowed saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico to creep into the river. —Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 25 Oct. 2022 More kind of modernist ideas start to creep into your life. —Vulture, 14 Oct. 2022 With stop-motion, the labor-intensive process of building and manipulating a miniature world by hand invariably allows real life to creep into the frame; Lee joked that her golden retriever’s fur made it into every shot. —Yoo Lee, The New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2022 Noun
As a creep, a romantic, or an action star, the actor always brings intensity and passion to his best projects. —Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 12 Jan. 2023 Conservationists argue that the easy availability of public land has caused a creep toward ever-larger projects and diminished our imagination for solar’s versatility. —Hillary Angelo, Harper’s Magazine , 12 Dec. 2022 Podcasting had already been on a slow creep toward relevance, but Serial vaulted the whole thing into the mainstream with 10 million downloads in just seven weeks. —Vulture, 22 Sep. 2022 Is Paul a cursed narcissist coping with his loneliness by retreating into harmless fantasy, or a delusional creep whose extensive lies and disturbing patterns of harassment, even abuse, will be exposed? —Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2023 My credit card creep’s first move was to charge about $60 at a restaurant. —Shira Ovide, Washington Post, 27 Jan. 2023 The plot is pretty routine, but its finer points about religious faith and rituals give the creep-outs and jump-scares real nuance. —Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2023 Ah, mid-January, when the New Year's resolutions fall away, and Netflix and lethargy creep in. —Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 13 Jan. 2023 Under the huge pressures deep underground, atoms from the material below can fill in these cracks in the structure in a process called dislocation creep. —Phil Plait, Scientific American, 5 Jan. 2023 See More Word History
Etymology
Verb and Noun
Middle English crepen, from Old English crēopan; akin to Old Norse krjūpa to creep
First Known Use
Verb
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Noun
1818, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing creep
Kids Definition
creep
1 of 2 verb ˈkrēp
crept ˈkrept ; creeping
; creeping 1
: to move along with the body close to the ground : move slowly on hands and knees
2
: to advance slowly, timidly, or quietly
the tide crept up the beach
3
: to spread or grow over the ground or a surface
a creeping vine
4
: to slip or gradually shift position
5
: to feel as though insects were crawling on the body
the shriek made my flesh creep
creep
2 of 2 noun1
: a creeping movement
2
a
: a sensation like that of insects creeping over one's flesh
b
: a feeling of horror —usually used in plural with the
the story gave me the creeps
3
: an unpleasant or hateful person
creep 1 of 2
noun
as in jerk
a person whose behavior is offensive to others finally found the creep who kept throwing his trash in the woods Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- jerk
- bastard
- dog
- clown
- rat
- snake
- beast
- skunk
- joker
- nuisance
- bugger
- vermin
- brute
- swine
- hound
- idiot
- scum
- fool
- slime
- rotter
- heel
- louse
- slimeball
- varmint
- scumbag
- sleaze
- moron
- brat
- stinker
- reptile
- toad
- bounder
- villain
- cad
- dirtbag
- crud
- slob
- blighter
- pill
- lout
- cur
- nerd
- sleazebag
- sod
- cretin
- barbarian
- chuff
- sleazeball
- boor
- stinkard
- schmuck
- buzzard
- fink
- scuzzball
- churl
- savage
- bleeder
- rat fink
- crumb
- rogue
- wretch
- so-and-so
- scab
- pest
- lowlife
- miscreant
- son of a gun
- dork
- scoundrel
- caveman
- scamp
- goon
- dope
- vulgarian
- rascal
- booby
- turkey
- imbecile
- loudmouth
- jackass
- snob
- dweeb
- ninny
- dolt
- doofus
- roughneck
- dink
- nut
- blockhead
- insolent
- airhead
- snip
- snot
- nincompoop
- nit
- schmoe
- schmo
- Neanderthal
- nitwit
- birdbrain
- snoot
- half-wit
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- hero
- heroine
- lady
- idol
- gentleman
- role model
- saint
- angel
creep
2 of 2verb
1
as in to encroach
to advance gradually beyond the usual or desirable limits water crept slowly over the top of the tub and onto the floor Synonyms & Similar Words
- encroach
- worm
- invade
- sneak
- inch
- intrude
- snake
- overshoot
- impinge
- entrench
- overrun
- overreach
- infringe
- intrench
- overstep
- overpass
2
as in to crawl
to move or act slowly that Friday afternoon we were just creeping, waiting for the bell to sound so that we could start the long weekend Synonyms & Similar Words
- crawl
- delay
- drag
- linger
- poke
- stroll
- lag
- loiter
- dawdle
- play
- shuffle
- hang fire
- fall behind
- lollygag
- stall
- mope
- mark time
- diddle
- drop behind
- dillydally
- lallygag
- stagger
- idle
- tarry
- saunter
- drag one's heels
- lounge
- dally
- amble
- take one's time
- shilly-shally
- drag one's feet
- ease
- fool around
- decelerate
- trifle
- loll
- mess around
- procrastinate
- loaf
- plod
- inch
- temporize
- fiddle (around)
- lumber
- filibuster
- potter (around)
- putter (around)
- monkey (around)
- hang (around or out)
- slow (down or up)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- scurry
- tear
- run
- rush
- hurry
- course
- fly
- hasten
- speed
- race
- rip
- scoot
- career
- breeze
- hurtle
- bolt
- hump
- whiz
- whirl
- rocket
- dash
- whizz
- run
- barrel
- stampede
- scramble
- whisk
- hotfoot (it)
- hustle
- dart
- scud
- zip
- accelerate
- trot
- jog
- gallop
- sprint
- bowl
- overtake
- quicken
- outrun
- catch up
- speed (up)
- outpace
- outstrip
- fast-forward
3
as in to slide
to move slowly with the body close to the ground the kitten crept silently across the floor before suddenly pouncing on the mouse Synonyms & Similar Words
- crawl
- slide
- snake
- slither
- worm
- tiptoe
- belly
- crouch
- sneak
- wriggle
- squat
- grovel
- edge
- steal
- inch
- skulk
- nose
4
as in to drag
to move slowly the class hour seems to creep by Synonyms & Similar Words
- drag
- crawl
- shuffle
- poke
- ooze
- slouch
- snail
- limp
- inch
- shamble
- plod
- nose
- trudge
- creak (along)
- tramp
- lumber
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- race
- speed
- fly
- float
- glide
- sail
- tear
- hurry
- whiz
- whizz
- zip