The way a project that started simple grows extra requirements until it's six months late and unbuildable.
The way a project that started simple grows extra requirements until it's six months late and unbuildable. Almost always leadership-driven; almost always blamed on engineering.
What started as a settings page is now a whole permissions system. Classic feature creep.
Feature creep means: The way a project that started simple grows extra requirements until it's six months late and unbuildable. Almost always leadership-driven; almost always blamed on engineering.. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than risky behaviour. If your teen uses it, context will usually make the intent clear. A short, curious question about where they heard it is usually all that is needed to know whether to follow up.
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
Add your own interpretation of "feature creep".
The vocabulary of software engineers, AI researchers, and anyone living in a terminal or on GitHub — from LLM to MCP, CORS to vibe coding, agentic to enshittification.
See all Tech, Dev & AI slang on Slangora.
Browse all slang words starting with F.
The gradual expansion of a project's original scope as "small" additions stack up. The project was "a login page." Now it includes SSO, MFA, password rotation, audit logs, and admin tooling. Every additional requirement feels small in isolation; together they double the timeline.
Uncontrolled growth in the scope or requirements of a project.
(intransitive) To rapidly increase in complexity due to cascading custom requirements.
(business, software engineering, slang) A cascading chain reaction in which a single non-standard feature, modification, or workaround forces the creation of subsequent custom solutions to maintain compatibility, ultimately resulting in disproportionate complexity and technical debt.
Feature creep means: The way a project that started simple grows extra requirements until it's six months late and unbuildable. Almost always leadership-driven; almost always blamed on engineering.. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than risky behaviour. If your teen uses it, context will usually make the intent clear. A short, curious question about where they heard it is usually all that is needed to know whether to follow up.
feature creep means: The way a project that started simple grows extra requirements until it's six months late and unbuildable. Almost always leadership-driven; almost always blamed on engineering.. Register: neutral, standard English. Common learner mistake is using the word in a register it does not fit, or assuming a single global meaning; always check the context before producing it yourself.
No comments yet — say something.