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

Young people increasingly want to see stories that reflect their lives, according to a survey administered by Uhls’ nonprofit last year.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026

Biddle said the charity was finding it is "increasingly expensive" to fill up their fleet of minibuses.

From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026

Here are edited excerpts from those chats, which began rather mundane, turned increasingly strange, and ended up deadly.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026

It is still unclear whether these genetic variants influence weight loss outcomes from GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy, which are increasingly used to treat obesity.

From Science Daily • Apr. 12, 2026

As the junta continued to rule with an iron fist, Farmer became increasingly frustrated and angry.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

Related Words

• more
• more and more
• progressively