increasing

in·creas·ing
I1N1C3R1E1A1S1I1N1G2
/ɪnˈkɹiːsɪŋ/

adjective

On the increase.

“steadily increasing demand”

Opposite
Very commonScrabble 13

Meanings

increasing1

adjectiveincreasing (not comparable)
  1. not comparableOn the increase.

    steadily increasing demand

    1 more example

    The world’s environmental crises are an increasing concern in international politics. Deforestation of the Amazon was high on the agenda of this week’s G7 meeting in Biarritz, France. In September, world leaders will gather in New York for a climate action summit.

    2019 August 30, Jonathan Watts, “Amazon fires show world heading for point of no return, says UN”, in The Guardian
verb
  1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of increase

    It is time the international community faced the reality: we have an unmanageable, unfair, distortionary global tax regime. It is a tax system that is pivotal in creating the increasing inequality that marks most advanced countries today […].

    2013 June 7, Joseph Stiglitz, “Globalisation is about taxes too”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 19
    1 more example

    Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.

    1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

increasing2

nounincreasing (plural increasings)

plural increasings

  1. businessAn increase.

    Now begin the increasings for the chest by making 2 stitches in the fourth stitch; repeat this, increasing in every fourth row, but 1 stitch further each time, so as to form a slanting line, the same as a dress-pleat.

    1864, The Ladies' Companion and Monthly Magazine, page 277

Synonyms & antonyms

Opposite

adjectivebecoming greater or larger

Opposite

adjective(music) increasing in tempo and/or volume

Opposite

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

increasing · adjective, verb

From increase + -ing (participial suffix).

Full word history & related roots →

increasing · noun

  1. Middle Englishencresing
  2. Englishincreasing

From Middle English encresing, equivalent to increase + -ing (gerund suffix).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian растящ
  • растящ (rastjašt)on the increase
Catalan creixent
  • creixenton the increase
French croissant
  • croissanton the increase
German zunehmend
  • zunehmendon the increase
Italian crescente
  • crescenteon the increase
Norwegian Bokmål økende
  • økendeon the increase
Portuguese crescente
  • crescenteon the increase
Romanian crescând
  • crescândon the increase
Spanish creciente
  • crecienteon the increase

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with increasing

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

increasing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/increasing

MLA

“increasing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/increasing. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “increasing,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/increasing.

Source: increasing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.