Standard Lemma guide

gradually

adv · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuəli/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: G R AE1 JH UW0 AH0 L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: G R AE1 JH UW0 L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adv

Meaning 1

In a gradual manner; making slow progress; slowly.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adv

Meaning 2

by degrees

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adverb

Meaning 3

in a gradual manner

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the snake moved gradually toward its victim

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bit by bit, step by step

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English gradual Middle English -ly English -ly English gradually From gradual + -ly.

Across languages

Translations

73 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: شَيْئاً فَشَيْئاً (šayʔan fašayʔan) — in gradual manner
  • Arabic: خُطْوةً فَخُطْوةً (ḵuṭwatan faḵuṭwatan) — in gradual manner
  • Arabic: تَدْرِيجِيّاً (tadrījiyyan) — in gradual manner
  • Arabic: معو معو (maʕu maʕu) — in gradual manner
  • Arabic: شوي شوي (šway šway) — in gradual manner
  • Armenian: աստիճանաբար (astičanabar) — in gradual manner
  • Azerbaijani: tədricən — in gradual manner
  • Belarusian: паступо́ва (pastupóva) — in gradual manner
  • Bulgarian: постепенно (postepenno) — in gradual manner
  • Catalan: gradualment — in gradual manner
  • Chinese Mandarin: 逐漸 /逐渐 (zhújiàn) — in gradual manner
  • Chinese Mandarin: 漸漸 /渐渐 (jiànjiàn) — in gradual manner
  • Chinese Mandarin: 漸次 /渐次 (jiàncì) — in gradual manner
  • Czech: postupně — in gradual manner
  • Danish: gradvis — in gradual manner
  • Dutch: geleidelijk — in gradual manner
  • Dutch: allengs — in gradual manner
  • Dutch: gaandeweg — in gradual manner
  • Dutch: langzamerhand — in gradual manner
  • Esperanto: grade — in gradual manner
  • Esperanto: malabrupte — in gradual manner
  • Finnish: asteittain — in gradual manner
  • Finnish: vähitellen — in gradual manner
  • Galician: gradualmente — in gradual manner
  • German: nach und nach — in gradual manner
  • German: allmählich — in gradual manner
  • German: stufenweise — in gradual manner
  • German: schrittweise — in gradual manner
  • Greek: βαθμιαία (vathmiaía) — in gradual manner
  • Greek: σταδιακά (stadiaká) — in gradual manner
  • Hanunoo: amat-amat — in gradual manner
  • Hungarian: fokozatosan — in gradual manner
  • Italian: gradualmente — in gradual manner
  • Japanese: 段々と (dandan to) — in gradual manner
  • Japanese: 徐々に (jojo ni) — in gradual manner
  • Japanese: 次第に (shidai ni) — in gradual manner
  • Korean: 점점 (jeomjeom) — in gradual manner
  • Korean: 점차 (jeomcha) — in gradual manner
  • Korean: 서서히 (seoseohi) — in gradual manner
  • Central Kurdish: وردە وردە (wirde wirde) — in gradual manner
  • Latin: paulātim — in gradual manner
  • Latin: gradātim — in gradual manner
  • Macedonian: постепено (postepeno) — in gradual manner
  • Manchu: ᡠᠯᡥᡳᠶᡝᠨ (ulhiyen) — in gradual manner
  • Manchu: ᡠᠯᡥᡳᠶᡝᠨ ᡠᠯᡥᡳᠶᡝᠨ ᡳ (ulhiyen ulhiyen-i) — in gradual manner
  • Middle English: esiliche — in gradual manner
  • Navajo: tąądee — in gradual manner
  • Norwegian Bokmål: etter hvert — in gradual manner
  • Norwegian Bokmål: gradvis — in gradual manner
  • Norwegian Bokmål: litt etter litt — in gradual manner
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: etter kvart — in gradual manner
  • Plautdietsch: aulmälich — in gradual manner
  • Polish: stopniowo — in gradual manner
  • Polish: krok po kroku — in gradual manner
  • Portuguese: gradualmente — in gradual manner
  • Portuguese: pouco a pouco — in gradual manner
  • Romanian: treptat — in gradual manner
  • Romanian: în mod gradat — in gradual manner
  • Romanian: progresiv — in gradual manner
  • Romanian: în mod treptat — in gradual manner
  • Russian: постепе́нно (postepénno) — in gradual manner
  • Scottish Gaelic: mean air mhean — in gradual manner
  • Serbo-Croatian: по̀степено — in gradual manner
  • Serbo-Croatian: pòstepeno — in gradual manner
  • Slovak: postupne — in gradual manner
  • Slovene: postopoma — in gradual manner
  • Spanish: gradualmente — in gradual manner
  • Spanish: paulatinamente — in gradual manner
  • Swedish: gradvis — in gradual manner
  • Ukrainian: поступо́во (postupóvo) — in gradual manner
  • Ukrainian: пово́лі (povóli) — in gradual manner
  • Vietnamese: dần dần — in gradual manner
  • Zhuang: menhmenh — in gradual manner
Real reading context

gradually in complete knowledge articles