MEANING
Happening through successive additions or small steps rather than one complete change.
Use it for
describing gradual change through successive steps; contrasting revision with wholesale replacement; identifying an additional cost or benefit from one more stepDistinguishes stepwise additions from a single wholesale change. Academic functions: Change / Pattern / Trend.
Words that belong together
- incremental change
- incremental improvement
- incremental costs
On the page
The reform followed an incremental strategy rather than replacing the entire system.
The analysis compares the incremental costs of extending the program to another district.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- incremental
Usage notes
Adjective, usually attributive. Usually describes steps or added amounts; no ordinary -er/-est forms. Register: formal. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
Keep a thought for later. Sign in to save privately.