incremental
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of incremental
Explanation
If you are making incremental progress in math, you are moving slowly but steadily forward. Incremental describes regular, measurable movements that are usually small. Sometimes a basketball team might make a huge improvement, like a team that is 32-50 one year and then 50-32 the next. More often, progress is small and tiny — incremental. Anytime something is changing in any way, and the change is slow and steady, you can talk about incremental changes. A lot of life is like that. You might prefer to be making great or even miraculous progress, but incremental gains are better than none at all.
Vocabulary lists containing incremental
Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 1
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ACT Vocabulary List
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This Week in Words: October 28 - November 3, 2017
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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.
“We believe the rest of 2026 could see higher rates prevail, but incremental supply in 2027 and a potential Red Sea reopening should be headwinds.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
We're "seeing some incremental pressure on the consumer relative to the beginning of the year with higher fuel prices," Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said on a conference call with analysts.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
“When you think about the memory and storage companies, they’re the most exposed to that incremental supply and demand,” Bond said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
“Paramount will have incurred $1.3 billion in unrecoverable financial losses as a result of ticking fees by the time post-trial briefing concludes, to say nothing of incremental financing fees and delayed synergies,” the motion said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
What composers could impose instead of incremental change were more abrupt contrasts of loud and soft, like the juxtaposition of light and shade, chiaroscuro, in painting.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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.
