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incremental

7 synonyms and 3 antonyms for incremental, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Adjective — Happening in a series of small steps rather than all at once.

Synonyms

Everyday swaps

Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.

Less common

Still standard English, but they carry more weight.

Rare, literary or technical

Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.

step-by-step piecemeal

Synonyms by Meaning

1. adjective

Happening in a series of small steps rather than all at once.

“Progress has been incremental but steady.”

gradual step-by-step piecemeal phased

Opposites

2. adjective

Describing the extra amount added by one further unit or step, as opposed to the total.

“The incremental cost of each additional user is close to zero.”

How to use incremental

The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.

incremental change incremental cost incremental improvement incremental progress

Neutral; standard in business, engineering and economics.

Etymology

From increment, which comes from Latin incrementum 'growth, increase', from increscere 'to grow'.

Full origin of incremental →

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between incremental and iterative?
Incremental means building something up in added pieces, each one extending what exists. Iterative means going back over the same thing repeatedly to improve it. A project can be both: adding a new section each month, and reworking earlier ones as you learn.
Does incremental mean slow?
Not necessarily, though it often implies it. The word describes the shape of the change — many small steps — rather than the pace. Rapid incremental change is perfectly possible, and is the basis of most modern software release cycles.

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Nearby words

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Synonyms and antonyms from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.