increasingly

American  

[in-kree-sing-lee] / ɪnˈkri sɪŋ li /

adverb

1. to an ever greater degree; more and more: Marketers are increasingly using video to create meaningful emotional connections with their consumers.

   He became increasingly nervous and overwrought and began to suffer bouts of depression.

   Marketers are increasingly using video to create meaningful emotional connections with their consumers.

---

Etymology

Origin of increasingly

increasing ( def. ) + -ly

Explanation

This adverb applies to anything that is happening more often, in greater numbers, or with greater intensity. An increasingly hot summer keeps getting hotter. To increase something is to add to it numerically, like increasing the size of your family by having a baby. Anything that happens increasingly is growing in some way. An increasingly depressed person keeps getting sadder. An increasingly sick patient keeps getting worse. An increasingly corrupt government is getting less and less honest. When you see this word, you know something is intensifying.

Example Sentences

His achievements have helped struggling Californians live in an increasingly unaffordable state and given him bona fides to tout to voters if he launches a bid for the White House.

From Los Angeles Times • May 3, 2026

Customers may, increasingly, become less agreeable to all this.

From Slate • May 3, 2026

Now, with the authorities increasingly on the hunt for Starlink terminals, Sahand and his network are advising users to use VPNs with the satellite technology in order to remain incognito.

From BBC • May 2, 2026

Mizuho analysts wrote in a note earlier this week that though Zuckerberg’s vision remains light on details, the picture is coming increasingly into view.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026

While some great naturalists still praised her books, she fell into disfavor with a scientific establishment that increasingly rejected the work of self-taught amateurs.

From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman

Related Words

• more
• more and more
• progressively