cumulative

adjective

cu·​mu·​la·​tive ˈkyü-myə-lə-tiv 

-ˌlā-

1

a

: increasing by successive additions

b

: made up of accumulated parts

2

: tending to prove the same point

cumulative evidence

3

a

: taking effect upon completion of another penal sentence

a cumulative sentence

b

: increasing in severity with repetition of the offense

cumulative penalty

4

: formed by the addition of new material of the same kind

a cumulative book index

5

: summing or integrating overall data or values of a random variable less than or less than or equal to a specified value

cumulative normal distribution

cumulative frequency distribution

6

finance

a

: to be added if not paid when normally due to the next payment or a future payment

cumulative preferred dividends

cumulative interest

b

of stock : bearing such a dividend

cumulative preferred stock

cumulatively adverb

cumulativeness noun

Synonyms of cumulative

• accumulative
• additive
• incremental
• gradual

Examples of cumulative in a Sentence

… Game Boy, which first came out in 1989 as a monochrome handheld toy, has become the most successful of all of the systems, reaching cumulative sales of 110 million units to date … —N'gai Croal, Newsweek, 28 May 2001

They began looking at the cumulative effect of stress and realized that, while there might have been an incident that finally triggered the madness, a series of previous events had lowered the soldier's emotional resistance. —Michael Fleming and Roger Manvell, Psychology Today, July 1987

Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life's cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another, you have only an extemporaneous, half possession. —Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Self-Reliance," in Essays,  1841

a cumulative weight gain of 20 pounds over the course of a year

Recent Examples on the Web

While the cumulative outperformance from the chart below is meaningful, the 1-month returns of the top quintile outperformed those of the bottom quintile about 52% of the time. —Michael Khouw, CNBC, 12 Jan. 2026

All of those ideas are translated through cumulative effort. —Ingrid Vasquez, PEOPLE, 10 Jan. 2026

The number of locations is cumulative, beginning when the protests started on December 28. —Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 10 Jan. 2026

According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, the federal government’s cumulative deficit for fiscal year 2026 through November was $439 billion — 19% lower than the same time the previous year. —Bruce Yandle, Twin Cities, 9 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

see cumulate

First Known Use

1605, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Phrases Containing cumulative

• cumulative distribution function
• cumulative effect

Kids Definition

cumulative

adjective

cu·​mu·​la·​tive ˈkyü-myə-lət-iv 

-ˌlāt-

: increasing (as in force, strength, or amount) by additions one after another

cumulative effects

cumulatively adverb

cumulativeness noun

Medical Definition

cumulative

adjective

cu·​mu·​la·​tive ˈkyü-myə-lət-iv, -ˌlāt- 

: increasing in effect by successive doses (as of a drug or poison)

cumulative poisoning by organochlorine pesticides

—Jack Clincy

cumulatively adverb

Legal Definition

cumulative

adjective

cu·​mu·​la·​tive ˈkyü-myə-lə-tiv, -ˌlā- 

1

: increasing by successive additions

2

: tending to prove the same point

cumulative testimony

3

: following in time