gradually

[graj-oo-uh-lee]

adverb

1. by small degrees or little by little.

   The hurricane moved northwestward to northward for two days, gradually weakened to a depression, and then turned eastward.

   Over the following decades, the curriculum was gradually expanded, with additional offerings in history, government, languages, geology, and geography.

Other Word Forms

• ungradually adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of gradually¹

gradual ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

His seamless design emerges only gradually and circuitously.

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But as Atlantic colonization expanded, England—like Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and France—gradually became more involved in the slave trade.

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Words were exchanged and voices gradually rose, and security stepped in as tensions threatened to boil over.

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JLR froze production for more than one month owing to the attack, gradually resuming output in October.

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It is an approach that is gradually winning support.

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Related Words

• constantly 
• continuously 
• deliberately 
• gently 
• increasingly 
• moderately 
• progressively 
• regularly 
• steadily