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

The family statement said the trust had failed to provide updates and reassurance during the disciplinary process which left their mother "increasingly anxious and depressed".

From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026

American Airlines reports earnings Thursday against an increasingly difficult backdrop for U.S. carriers amid surging jet fuel prices.

From Barron's • Apr. 23, 2026

As other countries have built up their incentive programs, production infrastructure and crew expertise, filming has increasingly moved overseas.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 23, 2026

Americans increasingly have to fund their own retirement as pensions have fallen away.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 23, 2026

And, of course, as replication became the test, historical facts, which had once seemed so solid and reliable, came to seem increasingly fragile and tenuous.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• more
• more and more
• progressively