1. To move slowly and cautiously, often to avoid attracting attention.
2. To develop or spread so slowly that the change may initially escape notice.
3. A person whose behavior feels intrusive, unsettling, or offensively unpleasant.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- creep along a corridor
- creep closer
On the page
They crept along the corridor without speaking.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- creep
- Third-person present
- creeps
- Past tense
- crept
- Past participle
- crept
- Present participle
- creeping
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- creep / creeps
- Present continuous
- am/is/are creeping
- Present perfect
- have/has crept
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been creeping
- Past
- crept
- Past continuous
- was/were creeping
- Past perfect
- had crept
- Past perfect continuous
- had been creeping
- Future
- will creep
- Future continuous
- will be creeping
- Future perfect
- will have crept
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been creeping
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: creep; creeps; crept; crept; creeping. Noun singular creep; plural creeps. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: creeps.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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