Meaning & use
gradually
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Meanings
adverbnot comparable
Little by little over a period of time, rather than all at once.
Grammar: Goes before a verb or adjective of change: gradually improve, gradually warmer.
Patterns
- gradually become something
- gradually increase
The sky gradually turned from pink to deep blue.
Prices have gradually risen over the past five years.
He gradually got used to the cold.
adverbnot comparable
In small steps that are planned and spaced out, so that change is safe or easy to handle.
Grammar: Often used in advice or instructions: gradually add the flour.
Patterns
- gradually introduce something
- gradually add something
Gradually add the milk while stirring.
You should gradually increase the weight you lift.
The school gradually introduced the new schedule.
Common combinations
- gradually increase
- The speed gradually increased as the train left the station.
- gradually decline
- Interest gradually declined after the first week.
- gradually fade
- The music gradually faded away.
- gradually realize
- She gradually realized how serious it was.
- gradually improve
- His health gradually improved through the spring.
- gradually introduce
- The gym gradually introduced new classes.
Synonyms and how they differ
- slowly
- Slowly describes speed only, while gradually stresses change happening in steps or stages.
- steadily
- Steadily stresses a constant, regular pace, whereas gradually may be uneven.
- progressively
- Progressively is more formal and suggests each stage goes further than the one before.
- bit by bit
- Bit by bit is informal and spoken, and suggests small pieces added one at a time.
Opposites
Word family
- gradual adjective
- happening slowly in stages
- gradualness noun
- the quality of changing slowly
- gradualism noun
- the policy of changing things slowly
- grade noun
- a level or step
Commonly confused: gradually or graduate?
gradually vs graduate
Graduate means to finish a course or degree, while gradually is an adverb of slow change. People sometimes misspell gradually by adding extra letters.
Practice
The doctor told him to ____ increase his exercise rather than start with a hard routine.
Choose one answer.
Gradually means in small steps, which matches the advice to avoid a hard start. Suddenly and immediately mean the opposite, and rarely changes the meaning of frequency.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “gradually”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.