increasingly
Americanadverb
Etymology
Origin of increasingly
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The lines have blurred as insurers increasingly own clinics and pharmacies, but not enough to change this fundamental dynamic.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 17, 2026
It is becoming increasingly widespread across North America, including expanding regions of Alberta.
From Science Daily • Jun. 16, 2026
Against this backdrop, Chaubey's Vision 2047 - an ambitious roadmap that promised to bring 35 million children into football - increasingly resembles a forgotten campaign pledge.
From BBC • Jun. 16, 2026
Morgan remains sidelined on the stock for now, “awaiting evidence of execution to the outlined opportunities in an increasingly competitive market,” Chatterjee wrote.
From Barron's • Jun. 16, 2026
Of course, Newton may have been biased against Papin because Papin was a friend of Leibniz, with whom Newton was increasingly coming into conflict.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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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.