as in slowly
by small steps or amounts
gradually worked his way down the class roster add the sugar to the beaten egg whites gradually to make the meringue
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Recent Examples of gradually
Start with once daily, and if your skin can handle it, gradually increase to two or three times per week.
—
Lily Wohlner, Allure, 16 Sep. 2025
Tropical activity is expected to gradually ramp up over the next few weeks as conditions become more favorable for development, forecasters say.
—Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 16 Sep. 2025
The dynamic kickoff, which was imported from the XFL, was the NFL’s attempt to revive the special teams play after the frequency of returns gradually declined during the 2010s due to a series of rule tweaks.
—Lev Akabas, Sportico.com, 16 Sep. 2025
If the main engine is declared unusable, one possible option for getting around the main engine problem might be using these smaller thrusters to more gradually adjust the Cygnus spacecraft's orbit to line up the final approach with the ISS.
—Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 16 Sep. 2025
Ohtani, who made his season pitching debut on June 16, has seen his workload gradually increase.
—John Perrotto, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
And ever so gradually, other guitarists began to adopt his signature style.
—Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 16 Sep. 2025
But gradually, the infrastructure, talents and crew needed to build a local industry are starting to be there.
—Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 16 Sep. 2025
Iryna’s world grew bigger, gradually, from there.
—Theoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 16 Sep. 2025
Lily Wohlner, Allure, 16 Sep. 2025
Tropical activity is expected to gradually ramp up over the next few weeks as conditions become more favorable for development, forecasters say.
—Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 16 Sep. 2025
The dynamic kickoff, which was imported from the XFL, was the NFL’s attempt to revive the special teams play after the frequency of returns gradually declined during the 2010s due to a series of rule tweaks.
—Lev Akabas, Sportico.com, 16 Sep. 2025
If the main engine is declared unusable, one possible option for getting around the main engine problem might be using these smaller thrusters to more gradually adjust the Cygnus spacecraft's orbit to line up the final approach with the ISS.
—Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 16 Sep. 2025
Ohtani, who made his season pitching debut on June 16, has seen his workload gradually increase.
—John Perrotto, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
And ever so gradually, other guitarists began to adopt his signature style.
—Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 16 Sep. 2025
But gradually, the infrastructure, talents and crew needed to build a local industry are starting to be there.
—Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 16 Sep. 2025
Iryna’s world grew bigger, gradually, from there.
—Theoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 16 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gradually
Adverb
-
Neural highways that once buzzed with activity are becoming quiet country roads, rarely traveled and slowly overgrown.—
Cornelia C. Walther,
Forbes.com,
12 Sep. 2025
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But even if the plant slowly returns to life, the sense of betrayal in South Korea – and a new wariness among companies there to invest in the US – may linger far longer.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
12 Sep. 2025
Adverb
-
With masses equivalent to millions or even billions of suns, supermassive black holes are too massive to have been born from dying stars; instead, it is theorized that they are created when smaller black holes collide and merge, and a chain of progressively larger and larger mergers.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
12 Sep. 2025
-
Seizures or other involuntary movements ensue, progressively getting worse as the person loses more control over their body.—
Mary Walrath-Holdridge,
USA Today,
12 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gradually.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gradually. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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