infiltrated

verb

past tense of infiltrate
as in sneaked
to introduce in a gradual, secret, or clever way over time, undercover agents infiltrated the crime ring and eventually busted their gambling racket

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of infiltrated Now, this idea has infiltrated the motherhood feeds. — Rachel Morgan Cautero, Parents, 31 May 2026 The moment the cannula infiltrated, time split in two. — Nisha Narayanan, STAT, 5 June 2026 The same informant then infiltrated a second conference, in 2020. — Keith O’Brien, New Yorker, 25 June 2026 Over 30 actors, filmmakers, and friends recount how Steven Spielberg infiltrated Hollywood and let the Movie Brats take over. — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 10 June 2026 The Ukrainian military said Saturday that small groups of Russian soldiers had infiltrated the town, but counter-sabotage operations were ongoing. — Tim Lister, CNN Money, 5 July 2026 Called Debug, the project targets Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which are native to Africa but have infiltrated nearly half of California’s counties since first being detected in the state in 2013. — Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2026 The Institute for the Study of War has reported that, in the course of advancing towards Kostyantynivka, Russian forces infiltrated the southeastern portion of the city and its suburbs, pushing 2 to 4 kilometers ahead of their assessed lines. — Vikram Mittal, Forbes.com, 12 June 2026 Invasive plant species have infiltrated many of the natural grasslands, said DavidWedin, director of the University of Nebraska’s Center for Grassland Studies. — Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 17 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for infiltrated
  1. sneaked
  2. inserted
  3. slipped
  4. wormed
  5. introduced
Verb
  • When grounders sneaked through the infield, his body language was uneventful.
    — Spencer Nusbaum, New York Times, 5 July 2026
  • Some stuff released a bit earlier this week and snuck past me.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 4 July 2026
Definition of sneaked
Verb
  • In Leo’s case, the first-generation constellation is designed to span 3,232 satellites inserted into specific orbits to cover certain geographic regions.
    — Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 2 July 2026
  • For small, simple molecules, the researchers simply inserted a gene that encodes a pore protein into the SpudCell genome.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 2 July 2026
Definition of inserted
Verb
  • On Tuesday, French Open champion Alexander Zverev slipped worryingly on the baseline but was able to get straight back up.
    — Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 3 July 2026
  • The employment-to-population ratio slipped to 59% in June, the lowest since October 2021.
    — Jeff Cox, CNBC, 2 July 2026
Definition of slipped
Verb
  • OpenAI’s ChatGPT has wormed its way into more and more parts of consumers’ lives, from work to their children’s education, and even mental health and romantic relationships.
    — Will McCurdy, PC Magazine, 16 May 2026
  • The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum initially believed that the bug, which eluded detection and caused countless medical issues, wormed its way into her system while filming Bravo's The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip in Morocco in early 2023.
    — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Feb. 2026
Definition of wormed
Verb
  • The issue has caught the attention of lawmakers on Capitol Hill, where a flurry of proposals have been introduced since the start of the year.
    — Justin Papp, CNBC, 7 July 2026
  • In January, CyCognito introduced discovery of externally reachable MCP servers, adding them to external attack-surface inventories.
    — Janakiram MSV, Forbes.com, 6 July 2026
Definition of introduced

Browse Nearby Words

infiltrate
infiltrated
infiltrates
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Infiltrated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/infiltrated. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on infiltrated

Nglish: Translation of infiltrated for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All