intrude
Enter without welcome
To intrude is to enter where you're not welcome or wanted.
A stranger intrudes on a private conversation; unwanted thoughts intrude on concentration.
The word implies violation of boundaries—physical, social, or psychological: I hope I'm not intruding.
Someone who intrudes is an intruder; the act is intrusion.
Reality has a way of intruding on our fantasies.
Break in upon
- interfereObstruct or meddle uninvited
- disturbInterrupt or trouble
- disruptInterrupt and disorder
- obstructBlock or hinder passage
bother · impose · interject · butt in · cut in · barge in · derail · upset
Advance beyond proper limits
- infiltrateEnter secretly to observe
- break inUnlawful entry
- sneak inEnter without being noticed
- prowlRoam stealthily
unauthorized entry · interloper · poach · gatecrash · squat · burglarize · foray · overstep
Listen to private conversations
overhear · surveillance · monitor · wiretap · stalk · voyeur · personal space · boundaries
Without formal welcome
- unwantedNot wished for
- imposingImpressively grand in scale
- bothersomeCausing mild annoyance
- meddlesomeProne to interfering
obtrusive · pushy · presumptuous · overbearing · nuisance · pest · annoyance · interloper
One's regular paid work
- incursionHostile territorial penetration
- encroachmentGradual intrusion on territory
- territorialDefensive about owned space
- sovereigntySupreme independent authority
border · annexation · advance · penetrate · overrun · cross border · expansionism · aggression
interrupt
Break in upon
obstruct · bother · impose · interject · butt in · cut in · barge in · derail · upset · unsettle
encroach
Advance beyond proper limits
- infiltrateEnter secretly to observe
- break inUnlawful entry
- sneak inEnter without being noticed
prowl · unauthorized entry · interloper · poach · gatecrash · squat · burglarize · foray · overstep · impinge
eavesdrop
Listen to private conversations
peep · overhear · surveillance · monitor · wiretap · stalk · voyeur · personal space · boundaries · confidentiality
uninvited
Without formal welcome
- unwantedNot wished for
- imposingImpressively grand in scale
- bothersomeCausing mild annoyance
meddlesome · obtrusive · pushy · presumptuous · overbearing · nuisance · pest · annoyance · interloper · busybody
occupation
One's regular paid work
- incursionHostile territorial penetration
- encroachmentGradual intrusion on territory
- territorialDefensive about owned space
sovereignty · border · annexation · advance · penetrate · overrun · cross border · expansionism · aggression · colonize
unbidden
Not asked for
unwanted thoughts · obsess · preoccupy · nag · linger · persistent · recurring · pop up · occupy · ruminate
- intrusionsbarging in, barge in, butting in, butt in, break in
- meddlingmeddle, meddler, butt in, horn in, pry
- geology verbserode, deposit, subduct, uplift, fault
- agitateagitate, stir, rouse, disturb, rile up
- destruction verbsdestroy, demolish, wreck, ruin, smash
- inward movementinhale, absorb, intake, retract, withdraw
- intrusive thoughtInvoluntary disturbing mental image
- intruder alarmUnauthorized entry detector
- intruder drillPractice for unwelcome entry
- authorial intrusionWriter commenting within narrative
- layered intrusionHorizontally banded plutonic body
- network intrusionUnauthorized system access
intruder, intrusive, intrusion, intruding, intruders, intruded, intrudes, intrusiveness, intrusions