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

It feels increasingly like the prime minister is on borrowed time.

From BBC • May 9, 2026

Experts, however, say not only is it real, it’s become increasingly common in recent years.

From Los Angeles Times • May 9, 2026

While the colloquial understanding of an MTS is an AI researcher at a lab, it’s increasingly become a “catch-all” label at the intersection of AI and engineering, according to Clark.

From MarketWatch • May 9, 2026

And in another sign that it is increasingly going it alone, the U.A.E. last month announced it would leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 9, 2026

One of them was getting increasingly red in the face and hunching her shoulders.

From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi

Related Words

• more
• more and more
• progressively