creep up on
phrasal verb
crept up on; creeping up on; creeps up on
informal
: to slowly and quietly move closer to (someone) without being noticed
We tried to creep up on them but they heard our footsteps.
—often used figurativelyOld age creeps up on us.
The deadline had crept up on them.
Examples of creep up on in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Machin, a host on the popular Redmen TV YouTube channel, remembers going to a supermarket to help prepare for his cousin’s birthday and having a sense that something was creeping up on him, but hoped that paracetamol and vitamin supplements would snuff it out.
—
Simon Hughes, New York Times, 19 May 2025
Adidas’s pink-and-orange pair is creeping up on the popularity of Sambas, while slim sneakerinas (like the Zara pick below) have popped up on the likes of Charli XCX and Bella Hadid.
—Jake Henry Smith, Glamour, 20 May 2025
Plenty of busy parents found themselves in this position last week, reminded by the recent market plunge that college enrollment was creeping up on them, and some may not have dialed back their risky stock positions, or at least not enough.
—Tara Siegel Bernard, New York Times, 13 Apr. 2025
The Boston Red Sox are reportedly in the Sandy Alcántara sweepstakes as the trade deadline slowly creeps up on baseball.
—Ross Rosenfeld, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Apr. 2025
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Simon Hughes, New York Times, 19 May 2025
Adidas’s pink-and-orange pair is creeping up on the popularity of Sambas, while slim sneakerinas (like the Zara pick below) have popped up on the likes of Charli XCX and Bella Hadid.
—Jake Henry Smith, Glamour, 20 May 2025
Plenty of busy parents found themselves in this position last week, reminded by the recent market plunge that college enrollment was creeping up on them, and some may not have dialed back their risky stock positions, or at least not enough.
—Tara Siegel Bernard, New York Times, 13 Apr. 2025
The Boston Red Sox are reportedly in the Sandy Alcántara sweepstakes as the trade deadline slowly creeps up on baseball.
—Ross Rosenfeld, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for creep up on
Cite this Entry
“Creep up on.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/creep%20up%20on. Accessed 13 Jun. 2025.
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