Word of the Day
: June 5, 2026interloper
playWhat It Means
An interloper is a person who intrudes in a place or sphere of activity; they are not wanted or welcome by the other people present.
// Summer residents were regarded as interlopers who lacked a commitment to the town's welfare.
interloper in Context
"... my garden is wildlife friendly, sometimes too friendly. By not being overly concerned about interlopers, it welcomes birds and bugs now, including beneficial insects. They help keep things in balance. Not so welcome are rabbits, but they still find their way in." — David Hobson, The Waterloo (Ontario) Region Record, 16 Apr. 2026
Did You Know?
If you keep chickens, a coyote loping around in the vicinity of your coop is not welcome. You'd be justified, both semantically and etymologically, in calling such a coyote an interloper. The -loper part of interloper shares an ancestor with the Old English verb hlēapan, meaning "to leap," and the Dutch verb lopen, meaning "to run." (The verb lope does too.) The prefix inter- means "between" or "among," so an interloper is essentially one that leaps in among others (for example, a flock of hens) without an invitation to do so. Interloper made itself at home among English speakers in the late 1500s; the verb interlope, which arrived close in tow in the early 1600s, is likely a back-formation.
Test Your Vocabulary with M-W Quizzes
Quiz
Rearrange the letters to form a word meaning "to advance beyond the usual or proper limits": HCCAORNE
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