intrusive

[ in-troo-siv ]

adjective

1. tending or apt to intrude; coming without invitation or welcome:

   intrusive memories of a lost love.

   Synonyms: disturbing, irritating, troublesome, worrisome, irksome, bothersome, annoying

2. characterized by or involving intrusion.
3. intruding; thrusting in.
4. Geology.
   1. (of a rock) having been forced between preexisting rocks or rock layers while in a molten or plastic condition.
   2. noting or pertaining to plutonic rocks.
5. Phonetics. excrescent ( def 2 ).

intrusive

/ ɪnˈtruːsɪv /

adjective

1. characterized by intrusion or tending to intrude
2. (of igneous rocks) formed by intrusion Compare extrusive
3. phonetics relating to or denoting a speech sound that is introduced into a word or piece of connected speech for a phonetic rather than a historical or grammatical reason, such as the (r) often pronounced between idea and of in the idea of it

Derived Forms

• inˈtrusiveness, noun
• inˈtrusively, adverb

Other Words From

• in·trusive·ly adverb
• in·trusive·ness noun
• nonin·trusive adjective
• nonin·trusive·ly adverb
• unin·trusive adjective
• unin·trusive·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of intrusive¹

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; intrusion, -ive

Example Sentences

She said the boys in her class at school would ask personal and intrusive questions.

From BBC

“Under Trump, higher education in the US will face a difficult future, featuring an aggressive and intrusive federal government, erosion in funding with no alternatives, a cavalcade of political litmus tests and a decline in the US’s science and technology capability,” wrote John Aubrey Douglass, a senior research fellow and research professor of public policy and higher education at the UC Berkeley Center for Studies in Higher Education.

From Los Angeles Times

Having a stranger walk up to ask your opinion about some issue of the moment that you may know or care very little about is intrusive and off-putting.

From Salon

Her memory of them being sweet as a teenager calmed the “Is this person actually a serial killer?” intrusive thoughts.

From Los Angeles Times

That requirement would impose “extensive, expensive and intrusive paperwork,” and would “burden our working families and small businesses with huge costs,” Duarte wrote in a Modesto Bee op-ed.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• invasive
• nosy