accretive

adjective

ac·​cre·​tive ə-ˈkrē-tiv 

: relating to or characterized by accretion : produced by or growing by a series of additions of identical or similar things

an accretive process

accretive crystals [=crystals formed by accretion]

Companies need to be able to issue stock at high prices to fund acquisitions that are accretive to earnings.

—Bethany McLean

To [Ben] Zobrist, an ideal clubhouse is one where you can't tell whether a team has lost or won four games in a row. That's possible because of the steady, accretive cadence of baseball, a sport in which alternating games of no hits and three hits will win you a batting title.

—Bruce Schoenfeld

Synonyms of accretive

• cumulative

Examples of accretive in a Sentence

the story of his encounter with the bear was awash with accretive exaggeration, the bear becoming larger with each retelling of the tale

Recent Examples on the Web

At the same time, management recognized that specific assets, including major smelter restarts, will impact near-term earnings before becoming accretive later in the cycle. —Trefis Team, Forbes.com, 30 Jan. 2026

Plus, the spin is expected to be immediately accretive to Eaton’s organic growth and operating margins. —Morgan Chittum, CNBC, 26 Jan. 2026

The combined company, which will be headquartered in Las Vegas, is expected to generate $140 million in annual synergies by the third year after closing, and the transaction will be accretive to earnings per share in the first year. —Ruchika Khanna, USA Today, 11 Jan. 2026

Instead, Google is showing that AI can be accretive, even allowing the company to charge advertisers more on the ground that clicks tied to tools like AI Overview reflect a high search intent. —Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 17 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1661, in the meaning defined above