as in accumulative
produced by a series of additions of identical or similar things a cumulative weight gain of 20 pounds over the course of a year

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of cumulative Participants didn’t report any serious issues across the over 30,000 cumulative treatment days. Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 7 Aug. 2025 Wednesday’s announcement will bring Apple’s cumulative commitment to $600 billion, the White House said. Bloomberg, Mercury News, 6 Aug. 2025 As of Tuesday, Superman’s cumulative gross stood at $551.3 million: $316 million from North America and $235.3 million — or 42.6 percent — from foreign territories. Chris Lee, Vulture, 6 Aug. 2025 In broader terms, Age Debt is the cumulative burden organizations face as our populations age, birth rates plummet, the internal skills gap heightens, multigenerational issues grow, and various economic structures fail to keep pace. Dan Pontefract, Forbes.com, 31 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for cumulative
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cumulative
Adjective
  • The accumulative effects of a whole comprised of many different foods with artificial dyes, consumed over a lifetime, is even harder to assess.
    Lauren J. Young, Scientific American, 22 Apr. 2025
  • The heat is accumulative but not terribly aggressive in spice, and the bits of water chestnut offer freshness and crunch.
    Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • The six-team winter league, played across 10 weeks between January and March, has long stated that it was designed to be additive to the WNBA.
    Eric Jackson, Sportico.com, 19 July 2025
  • Inflammation Some brands of almond milk contain a food additive called carrageenan.
    Carrie Madormo, Verywell Health, 17 July 2025
Adjective
  • So, even small incremental improvements in employee retention can have a dramatic impact.
    Brent Gleeson, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2025
  • After years of progress (however incremental), 2025 is the year many companies quietly reversed course.
    Katica Roy, Fortune, 15 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • For months, John was confined to his bed and was off work for six months, before making a gradual return to teaching in September 2022.
    Alyce Collins, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Aug. 2025
  • The floodwaters, which broke through a dam of glacial ice, are an example of how gradual shifts to the climate are sometimes punctuated by sudden drama that can rapidly reshape a landscape.
    Evan Bush, NBC news, 14 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Cumulative.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cumulative. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.

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