encroachers
Those who intrude
Encroachers are people or things that gradually intrude on someone else's territory, rights, or domain.
The word carries a sense of unwelcome advance—encroachers on public land, encroachers threatening the habitat.
Whether literal trespassers or figurative intrusions, encroachers push past boundaries that aren't theirs to cross.
Unauthorized occupants of property
- poachersIllicit wildlife takers
- intrudersUnauthorized entrants
- interlopersUnwelcome meddlers in affairs
- violatorsThose who break rules
transgressors · unauthorized · landgrabbers · boundary-crossers · uninvited · unwelcome · outlaws · vagrants
Those who establish foreign control
- aggressorsInitiators of hostility
- occupiersThose currently dwelling somewhere
- conquerorsThose who defeat and dominate
- imperialistsProponents of territorial domination
annexers · expansionists · usurpers · subjugators · raiders · plunderers · dominators · barbarians
Moving slowly, stealthily
- infringingBreaching established limits
- oversteppingExceeding appropriate bounds
- overreachingExceeding proper limits
- impingingStriking or encroaching upon
intruding · advancing · spreading · expanding · infiltrating · edging · crowding · displacing
Tracked earth-pushing machines
- deforestersThose who clear wooded land
- urban sprawlUncontrolled peripheral development
- land clearersThose who remove vegetation
- buildersThose who construct things
squatters
Unauthorized occupants of property
- poachersIllicit wildlife takers
- intrudersUnauthorized entrants
- interlopersUnwelcome meddlers in affairs
violators · transgressors · unauthorized · landgrabbers · boundary-crossers · uninvited · unwelcome · outlaws · vagrants · settlers
colonizers
Those who establish foreign control
- aggressorsInitiators of hostility
- occupiersThose currently dwelling somewhere
- conquerorsThose who defeat and dominate
imperialists · annexers · expansionists · usurpers · subjugators · raiders · plunderers · dominators · barbarians · hordes
creeping
Moving slowly, stealthily
- infringingBreaching established limits
- oversteppingExceeding appropriate bounds
- overreachingExceeding proper limits
impinging · intruding · advancing · spreading · expanding · infiltrating · edging · crowding · displacing · overwhelming
bulldozers
Tracked earth-pushing machines
- deforestersThose who clear wooded land
- urban sprawlUncontrolled peripheral development
- land clearersThose who remove vegetation
builders · contractors · speculators · gentrifiers · industrializers
- unwelcome peopleintruders, trespassers, invaders, uninvited guests, gatecrashers
- infringerspirates, plagiarists, counterfeiters, bootleggers, forgers
encroachersrightful owners
landowners · titleholders · proprietors · natives · original inhabitants
encroachersretreaters
Those who pull back
withdrawers · evacuees · abandoners · yielders · emigrants
encroachersdefenders
Those who shield others
protectors · guardians · custodians · wardens · sentinels