creepverb [ I usually + adv/prep ]
uk/kriːp/us/kriːp/crept, creptC2 to move slowly, quietly, and carefully, usually in order to avoid being noticed:
She turned off the light and crept through the door.
Someone was creeping around outside my window.
The spider crept up the wall.
The traffic was creeping along at a snail's pace.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Slow and moving slowly
- at a snail's pace idiom
- by and by idiom
- by degrees idiom
- claw your way (somewhere) idiom
- clunky
- drift
- float
- in ones and twos idiom
- inch by inch idiom
- infiltrate
- infiltration
- labour
- lag
- mill
- sluggish
- snail
- steadily
- steady
- straggle
- struggle
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Phrasal verb(s)
creep in/creep into sth
creep over sb
creep up
creep up on/behind sb
creep up on sb
creepnoun
uk/kriːp/us/kriːp/informalcreep noun (PERSON)
[ C ] UK someone who tries to make someone more important like them by being very polite and helpful in a way that is not sincere:
Making coffee for the boss again? You creep!
C2 [ C ] an unpleasant person, especially a man:
He was such a creep - he was always staring at me in the canteen.
[ as form of address ] Leave me alone, creep!
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Praising insincerely or too eagerly
- arse-licker
- bow and scrape idiom
- brown-nose
- crawler
- cupboard love
- fawn
- flatter
- flattery will get you nowhere idiom
- glad-handing
- grovel
- idealize
- ingratiate
- left-handed compliment
- massage sb's ego idiom
- obsequious
- play up to sb
- schmooze
- servile
- slobber
- unctuous
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Unpleasant men
creep noun (GROWTH)
[ U ] the gradual growth or increase of something in a way that was not expected or wanted:
There is growing evidence that labour cost creep is becoming a problem.
See also
mission creep
give sb the creeps
to cause someone to have uncomfortable feelings of nervousness or fear:
Living next to a graveyard would give me the creeps.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Frightening and scaring
- chill
- chill sb to the bone/marrow idiom
- cow
- curdle
- daylight
- flesh
- frighten
- frighten sb into sth
- overawe
- petrify
- put the fear of God into you idiom
- put/get the wind up sb idiom
- scare
- scare, frighten, etc. the (living) daylights out of sb idiom
- send chills down/up sb's spine idiom
- send shivers down/up sb's spine idiom
- send shudders/a shudder down your spine idiom
- shiver (up and) down your spine idiom
- shudder
- wit
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