piecemeal.

Done in separate portions rather than through a complete coordinated plan.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• piecemeal reform
• piecemeal approach

On the page

Piecemeal repairs never addressed the underlying defect.

Usage notes

Primary category: analysis / argumentation / evidence. Forms: Normally non-gradable; no ordinary comparative or superlative. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: evidence, inference, qualification. Commonness: moderately common.