4 syllables: in, creas, ing, ly. Stress on creas.
/ɪnˈkɹisɪŋli/
Say it backIncreasingly is an adverb describing something happening to a greater extent over time. It signals a trend that becomes more pronounced, more frequent, or more dramatic as events unfold. The word is used to indicate a progressive shift and is commonly placed before adjectives, verbs, or noun phrases to intensify their quality or frequency.
"Crime rates have risen increasingly since the early 2000s."
"She is becoming increasingly confident in public speaking."
"Weather patterns are changing increasingly unpredictable with time."
Pronounce as in-CREE-sing-lee with primary stress on the second syllable: /ˌɪn.kriˈsiŋ.li/ or more commonly /ɪnˈkriː.sən.li/ in American and British speech; the /ˈkriː/ vowel is long. Pay attention to the /ŋ/ nasal in the third syllable and keep the final /li/ light. An audio reference like Forvo or pronunciation videos from Rachel’s English can help you hear the exact mouth positions.
Common errors include stressing the wrong syllable (placing emphasis on the first or last), and muting the /ŋ/ or conflating /ɪn/ with /ɪm/ at the start. Another frequent issue is making the middle /iː/ too short, producing /ɪnˈkri.sɪŋ.li/ instead of /ɪnˈkriː.sən.li/. Target the long /iː/ in the second syllable and clearly enunciate the /ŋ/ before the /li/.
In US, UK, and AU, the main differences center on vowel length and rhoticity. US tends to preserve the long /iː/ in /kriː/ with a stronger rhoticized onset in subsequent vowels; UK often lengthens the /iː/ slightly and maintains non-rhoticity to some extent; AU follows similar to UK but with subtle Australian vowel shifts around /iː/ and a lighter /l/ at the end. The final -ly remains soft across all, with /li/ or a dropped l in rapid speech.
The difficulty lies in the tri-syllabic rhythm with a long vowel in the second syllable and a nasal /ŋ/ before a light final /li/. You must coordinate a long /iː/ vowel while keeping the /ŋ/ clean and preventing the following /s/ from blending with the /ŋ/. Additionally, the secondary stress cluster around /kriː/ requires precise tongue height: high front vowel for /iː/, alveolar stop /t/ not present here but the /k/ onset needs articulation distinct from the following /r/; practice with minimal pairs to isolate these sounds.
A unique feature is the subtle transition from the long mid /iː/ in /kriː/ to a reduced syllable /sən/ before the final /li/. This creates a soft but noticeable shift in vowel quality and decreases the voice onset time between /s/ and /ə/ if pronounced quickly. Focus on shaping the tongue for /iː/ then lowering it smoothly into /sən/ before /li/ to maintain a natural cadence in connected speech.
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Increasingly derives from the verb increase plus the adverbial suffix -ly. The base verb increase originates from Middle English increasen, from Old French increistre, from Latin increscere (in- “toward” + crescere “to grow”). The sense evolution tracks the metaphor of growth or accumulation over time, moving from general “to grow” to a qualitative sense of “to become more,” with the adverbial -ly cementing its function as a manner or degree indicator. First recorded usages in English surface in the 15th–16th centuries, but the adverbial formation gained traction in the modern period as discourse increasingly involved gradual change over time in statistics, trends, and narrative arguments. By the 19th and 20th centuries, increasingly appeared broadly in academic, journalistic, and everyday speech to express progression, emphasis, and continuity of change. Today, it is a common modifier in formal and informal registers alike, signaling a clear trajectory rather than a one-off event.
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Words that rhyme with "increasingly"
-kly sounds
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