What does "creep" mean?
The movement of something that creeps (like worms or snails).
Creep
/kɹiːp/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The movement of something that creeps (like worms or snails).
- Grammar: creep is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: crawl, weirdo, all fours, amble.
- Useful contrasts: danish skyde, more continuous tearing, barrel.
- Usage evidence: The cat took advantage of the high grass to creep on the bird.
How to use "creep"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "creep" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "creep" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "creep" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "creep" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "creep" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "crawl" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "creep", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The movement of something that creeps (like worms or snails). countable, uncountable
- 2 a slow mode of locomotion on hands and knees or dragging the body wordnet
- 3 A relatively small gradual change, variation or deviation (from a planned value) in a measure. countable, uncountable
- 4 a pen that is fenced so that young animals can enter but adults cannot wordnet
- 5 A slight displacement of an object; the slight movement of something. countable, uncountable
Show 9 more definitions
- 6 a slow longitudinal movement or deformation wordnet
- 7 The gradual expansion or proliferation of something beyond its original goals or boundaries, considered negatively. uncountable
"Christmas creep"
- 8 someone unpleasantly strange or eccentric wordnet
- 9 In sewn books, the tendency of pages on the inside of a quire to stand out farther than those on the outside of it. countable, uncountable
- 10 An increase in strain with time; the gradual flow or deformation of a material under stress. countable, uncountable
- 11 The imperceptible downslope movement of surface rock. countable, uncountable
- 12 Someone creepy (annoyingly unpleasant), especially one who is strange or eccentric. countable, derogatory, informal, uncountable
""You mentioned some others," I said. "More creeps," she told me. '"That guy was plain looking for trouble. You know, he starts hanging out with some of the shooters Whitey Tass keeps around, angling for an introduction to the big man himself, and he's damn lucky he got picked up by the fuzz before Whitey got sore. He runs too big an operation in the city to be bugged by a pig like Yard. One day Lou Steubal tried to get an inside track with Whitey, levering him on account of what Whitey did to his sister, and they found Lou in the drink. It looked like Lou got gassed up and fell in, but don't try to tell me that. Whitey had him tapped out.""
- 13 A person who engages in sexually inappropriate behaviour or sexual harassment. countable, derogatory, especially, informal, uncountable
"It was whispered that the priest was a pervert. Was he? The girls said he was a creep. I didn't quite know what it meant to be a creep, but it was obviously not a good thing. It was said that he sometimes fondled the girls, their breasts, and said lousy things to them, that they were beautiful or something like that.[…]Disgusting guys. I thought the guy at Bústaðir was a creep. An old man who liked to dance."
- 14 A barrier with small openings used to keep large animals out while allowing smaller animals to pass through. countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To move slowly with the abdomen close to the ground. intransitive
"Lizards and snakes crept over the ground."
- 2 move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground wordnet
- 3 To grow across a surface rather than upwards. intransitive
- 4 to go stealthily or furtively wordnet
- 5 To move slowly and quietly in a particular direction. intransitive
"He tried to creep past the guard without being seen."
Show 9 more definitions
- 6 grow or spread, often in such a way as to cover (a surface) wordnet
- 7 To make small gradual changes, usually in a particular direction. intransitive
"Prices have been creeping up all year."
- 8 show submission or fear wordnet
- 9 To move in a stealthy or secret manner; to move imperceptibly or clandestinely; to steal in; to insinuate itself or oneself.
"Old age creeps upon us."
- 10 To slip, or to become slightly displaced.
"The collodion on a negative, or a coat of varnish, may creep in drying."
- 11 To move or behave with servility or exaggerated humility; to fawn.
"A creeping sycophant."
- 12 To have a sensation as of insects creeping on the skin of the body; to crawl.
"The sight made my flesh creep."
- 13 To drag in deep water with creepers, as for recovering a submarine cable.
- 14 To covertly have sex (with a person other than one's primary partner); to cheat with. intransitive, slang
"Honey came in and she caught me red-handed / Creeping with the girl next door / Picture this we were both butt naked / Banging on the bathroom floor"
Proper Noun
- 1 Acronym of Committee to Re-elect the President, which raised money for Richard Nixon's campaign for 1972 reelection. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, derogatory, historical
"While presidential elections have been marred by mudslinging since the early Republic, these USC alums deployed a particular type of dirty tricks: what became known as “ratf--king,” or the use of unscrupulous tactics to interfere with the campaigns of opponents. The tactics pioneered by members of Trojans for Representative Government and later CREEP set a precedent for the sort of organized political sabotage that has become commonplace today in a digital world, especially for Republicans."
Example
"The cat took advantage of the high grass to creep on the bird."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "creep"?
Common synonyms include: crawl, weirdo, all fours, amble, ambling, andante.
How do you use "creep" in a sentence?
The cat took advantage of the high grass to creep on the bird.
How do you pronounce "creep"?
Pronounced /kɹiːp/.
Etymology
From Middle English crepen, from Old English crēopan (“to creep, crawl”), from Proto-West Germanic *kreupan, from Proto-Germanic *kreupaną (“to twist, creep”), from Proto-Indo-European *grewbʰ- (“to turn, wind”). Cognates Cognate with West Frisian krûpe (“to creep, crawl”), Central Franconian kruffe (“to creep, crawl”), Dutch kruipen (“to creep, crawl”), Low German krepen, krupen (“to creep, crawl”), Danish krybe (“to creep”), Faroese krúpa (“to creep”), Icelandic krjúpa (“to kneel down, to genuflect, to get down on one's knees”), Norwegian Bokmål krype (“to creep”), Norwegian Nynorsk krjupa, krjupe, krypa, krype (“to creep, crawl”), Swedish krypa (“to creep, crawl”). The noun is derived from the verb. Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *grewbʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *kreupaną Proto-West Germanic *kreupan Old English crēopan Middle English crepen English creep