- present participle of increase.
increasing
Americanadjective
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growing larger or greater; enlarging; augmenting.
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Mathematics. (of a function) having the property that for any two points in the domain such that one is larger than the other, the image of the larger point is greater than or equal to the image of the smaller point; nondecreasing.
Usage
What does increasing mean? Increasing is an adjective that means growing or rising—becoming greater or more in number, amount, size, or in some other way. It comes from the continuous tense (-ing form) of the verb increase, which means to become greater or more in number, amount, size, or in some other way, as in Our profits will increase as demand increases. The word increased can also be used as an adjective to describe things that have risen or grown, as in an increased appetite. Example: The increasing value of the dollar.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of increasing
Explanation
Increasing means getting bigger or expanding. You'll be glad to have an increasing income, but perhaps less glad to have an increasing pants size. The adjective increasing describes anything that grows or becomes greater. Increasing volume from your neighbor's radio will drive you crazy, since it's getting louder and louder. If your tiny school attracts increasing numbers of new students, it's likely that new teachers will need to be hired. Increasing comes from the verb increase, or grow, with its Latin root word, increscere, "to grow upon, grow over, swell, or grow into."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the long run, local governments may increase their property-tax rates, while increasing the cost of things like beach parking or the fines on school-zone speeding, said Lubin.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
Oral treatment with lacosamide was effective in preclinical testing, but drugs taken by mouth circulate throughout the body, increasing the potential for unwanted effects elsewhere.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
And all this comes as forecasters say odds are increasing that this El Niño will be the strongest in the modern record, which goes back to 1950.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
The EA has written to school heads warning that increasing costs will affect school energy bills.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
On the other hand, if you’ve got an increasing force on the ball, x might equal something like t3/3.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
