scope creep

'Scope creep' is project-management terminology for the way a project's requirements expand bit by bit beyond what was originally agreed — usually without extra time, budget or staff. If your young adult complains about scope creep at work, they mean their tasks keep growing. Standard professional vocabulary, particularly in software, consulting and construction. Useful to recognise as it points to real workload stress.

'Scope creep' is project-management English for the gradual, unplanned expansion of a project's scope beyond what was originally agreed, typically without corresponding increases in time, budget or staff. Register: business and professional, neutral to formal. Acceptable in academic and corporate writing as-is. A common learner mistake is to confuse it with 'feature creep' (gradual addition of features to a product); the two overlap but 'scope creep' specifically denotes contract or project-level expansion.