Meaning & use
incremental
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Increasing or changing in small, regular steps rather than all at once.
Grammar: Comes before nouns like change or improvement.
Patterns
- incremental change
- incremental improvement
The team made incremental improvements to the app.
Incremental progress added up over the year.
We prefer incremental changes to a full redesign.
adjectivebefore a nounbusinesstechnical
Describing the extra amount added by one more unit, especially in business or economics.
Grammar: Used in finance: incremental cost.
Patterns
- incremental cost
- incremental revenue
The incremental cost of one more passenger is small.
The campaign brought incremental revenue.
Analysts measured incremental sales.
Common combinations
- incremental change
- Incremental change is easier to manage.
- incremental improvement
- Small incremental improvements raised quality.
- incremental approach
- The school took an incremental approach.
- incremental steps
- They advanced in incremental steps.
- incremental cost
- The incremental cost was low.
Synonyms and how they differ
- gradual
- Gradual stresses slow change over time, while incremental stresses distinct small steps.
- step-by-step
- Step-by-step is more informal and emphasizes a clear order.
- piecemeal
- Piecemeal can sound critical, suggesting disorganized change.
Opposites
Word family
- increment noun
- a small increase
- incrementally adverb
- in small steps
- incrementalism noun
- a policy of slow change
- increase verb
- to become greater
Commonly confused: incremental or incidental?
incremental vs incidental
Incidental means happening as a minor side effect, not step by step.
Practice
The city chose ______ changes to the bus network instead of replacing it overnight.
Choose one answer.
Incremental means small steps. Abrupt and dramatic suggest sudden change, and incidental means minor side effect.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “incremental”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.