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.

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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

As City close in, the prospect of Arteta's Arsenal finishing second in the Premier League for a fourth successive season is an increasingly painful possibility.

From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026

Sea drones, including uncrewed surface vessels and submarines, are an increasingly important part of the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 19, 2026

When the two rates match, resonance occurs, and the planet's orbit becomes increasingly stretched.

From Science Daily • Apr. 19, 2026

It was never easy, but during and since the pandemic, the neighborhood has grown increasingly unsafe as downtown has emptied of office workers and visitors.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2026

Transportation, ploughing, grinding and other tasks, hitherto performed by human sinew, were increasingly carried out by animals.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

Related Words

• more
• more and more
• progressively