cumulative.

Building up through successive additions or effects over time.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• cumulative effect
• cumulative evidence

On the page

The cumulative effect became visible after a year.

The conclusion rested on cumulative evidence.

Small losses produced a large cumulative cost.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic. Forms: More cumulative; most cumulative where degree is meaningful; relational uses are normally non-gradable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.