invade
Cross borders forcibly
To invade is to enter territory with hostile intent, typically with military force: Germany invaded Poland in 1939.
The word extends to any unwelcome intrusion—invading someone's privacy, invasive species invading ecosystems, or thoughts invading your mind.
Cancer invades surrounding tissue by spreading into it.
The noun is invasion.
Unauthorized entry onto property
- intrudeEnter uninvited
- infringeViolate another's rights
- overstepExceed proper limits
- impingeTo encroach or affect
creep · violate · boundary · territory · overreach · usurp · appropriate · sprawl
Enter uninvited
- pryLever or snoop
- snoopOne who pries
- violateBreak a rule deliberately
- surveillanceSystematic observation of subjects
eavesdrop · hack · breach · unauthorized · spy · stalk · monitor · personal
Aggressive act against another
- assaultViolent offensive act
- raidSudden armed incursion
- offensiveCausing displeasure or attack-oriented
- incursionHostile territorial penetration
siege · occupation · conquest · blitzkrieg · ambush · battlefield · campaign · army
Spread throughout uncontrollably
- inundateOverwhelm with excess
- infestOccupy harmfully en masse
- floodOverwhelming water overflow
- overwhelmDefeat by excess
descend · swarm · horde · plague · pests · locusts · tourists · crowd
Disease-causing microorganism
- virusMicroscopic infectious agent
- bacteriaNucleus-free single-celled organisms
- microbeMicroscopic living organism
- germDisease-causing microorganism
contagion · parasite · host · spread · contamination · outbreak · epidemic · pandemic
Extending dominion over others
- expansionismPolicy of territorial growth
- colonizationForeign territorial takeover
- annexationAbsorbing territory into jurisdiction
- territoryLand under jurisdiction
dominion · settlement · conquest · exploitation · subjugation · occupation · sovereignty · empire
trespass
Unauthorized entry onto property
impinge · creep · violate · boundary · territory · overreach · usurp · appropriate · sprawl · edge
intrude
Enter uninvited
surveillance · eavesdrop · hack · breach · unauthorized · spy · stalk · monitor · personal · boundaries
attack
Aggressive act against another
- assaultViolent offensive act
- raidSudden armed incursion
- offensiveCausing displeasure or attack-oriented
incursion · siege · occupation · conquest · blitzkrieg · ambush · battlefield · campaign · army · infantry
overrun
Spread throughout uncontrollably
overwhelm · descend · swarm · horde · plague · pests · locusts · tourists · crowd · throng
pathogen
Disease-causing microorganism
- virusMicroscopic infectious agent
- bacteriaNucleus-free single-celled organisms
- microbeMicroscopic living organism
germ · contagion · parasite · host · spread · contamination · outbreak · epidemic · pandemic · immune
imperialism
Extending dominion over others
- expansionismPolicy of territorial growth
- colonizationForeign territorial takeover
- annexationAbsorbing territory into jurisdiction
territory · dominion · settlement · conquest · exploitation · subjugation · occupation · sovereignty · empire · frontier
- intrusionsintrusion, intrude, intruder, intruding, barging in
- warfarebattle, combat, attack, war, armed conflict
- destruction verbsdestroy, demolish, wreck, ruin, smash
- royal actionscoronation, decree, abdication, reign, knighting
- mob attackswarm, mob, gang up, pile on, dogpile
- conflictclash, fight, war, battle, dispute
- Nazi invasionGerman military conquest, WWII
- alien invasionAttack from outer space
- invasion of privacyUnauthorized access to personal life
- home invasionUnlawful entry while occupied
- home invadersPeople illegally entering residences
- invasive speciesHarmful non-native organism
invasion, invader, invasive, invading, invaded, invades, invaders, noninvasive, invasively