creeping

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ˈkripɪŋ/ UK /ˈkriːpɪŋ/ See IPA manual

adj verb

Meanings

1

adj
moving or developing slowly and stealthily

A creeping sense of dread overtook the travelers.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · moving or developing slowly... crawling stealthy insidious gradualslinkingfurtive

Opposites

sudden abrupt

Word family

Related forms creep creeper

Etymology

Present participle of 'creep', from Old English 'crēopan' ('to crawl, move close to the ground'), from Proto-Germanic '*kreupaną'.

crēopan Old English *kreupaną Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives

# creeping

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj, verb
**IPA (US):** ˈkripɪŋ
**IPA (UK):** ˈkriːpɪŋ

## Meanings
1. moving or developing slowly and stealthily

## Examples
- A creeping sense of dread overtook the travelers.

## Synonyms
- crawling
- stealthy
- insidious
- gradual
- slinking
- furtive

## Antonyms
- sudden
- abrupt

## Related Forms
- creep
- creeper

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: crēopan
- Root: *kreupaną

## Etymology
Present participle of 'creep', from Old English 'crēopan' ('to crawl, move close to the ground'), from Proto-Germanic '*kreupaną'.

## AI Etymology
Creeping is the present participle of 'creep', from Old English 'crēopan' ('to crawl, move close to the ground'), from Proto-Germanic '*kreupaną'. Important recorded forms include crēopan (Old English) and *kreupaną (Proto-Germanic). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers moving or developing slowly and stealthily. The wider family includes related words such as creep and creeper.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes
- Word Formation & Derivatives

markdown

creeping

Meanings

Thesaurus

Etymology

Topics

Keyboard Shortcuts

General

Send feedback