encounter

verb

Synonyms and Antonyms of ENCOUNTER

to come upon face-to-face or as if face-to-face <quite unexpectedly encountered our next-door neighbor while vacationing in Europe>

Synonyms catch, chance (upon), encounter, happen (upon), stumble (upon)

Related Words accost, confront; face, greet, salute; collide (with), crash (into); crisscross, cross, pass; hit (upon), light (upon), tumble (to); reencounter, remeet

Near Antonyms avoid, dodge, duck, elude, escape, evade, shake, shun

to come upon unexpectedly or by chance <we encountered a host of unforeseen problems during the restoration of our 200-year-old house>

Synonyms chance (upon), encounter, find, hit (upon), light (on or upon), meet, pitch (upon), stumble (on or onto), tumble (upon)

Related Words luck (out, on, onto, or into); confront, face; discover, strike, turn up

to enter into contest or conflict with <the troops encountered bands of guerrilla fighters as they made their way across the desert>

Synonyms battle, encounter, face, meet, take on

Related Words emulate, rival; contend, fight, oppose

Near Antonyms elude, escape, evade; retreat

What made you want to look up encounter[verb]? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

Put-downs with flair

How to use a word that (literally) drives some people nuts.

Test your vocab with our fun, fast game

Ailurophobia, and 9 other unusual fears