by degrees

1. Gradually, by successive steps or stages. For example, By degrees he began to delegate more and more of his duties to his staff. [Mid-1500s] Also see by inches.

Example Sentences

The wood-paneled walls in a parlor had intricate carvings from floor to ceiling while a fireplace in the once-grand reception hall was embellished with the Hopwood family coat of arms, the family’s heraldic animal, a stag, and the family motto: By Degrees.

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“Will & Harper’s” ability to walk a fine line between being edifying and didactic, entertaining and superficial, is woven into its very structure, with its stars’ connection deepening by degrees until they reach the Mojave Desert town of Trona, where Steele, in a shattering moment, reveals the depths of her past self-hatred.

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Even after the Nazis invade Poland, halfway through the opening episode, things advance by degrees, so that the next worst thing can’t quite be imagined, and once imagined really believed.

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Arti Gollapudi plays all three of Deepali’s older sisters, for example, differing mainly by degrees of uptightness.

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The #MeToo movement offers proof that a culture can change — slowly and by degrees.

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