increasingly

Name: increasingly, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

adv

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“increasingly” has 19 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,760. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,760
frequency rank, English: 2,140
“I” headwords: 19
tracked misspellings: 1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Increasing in amount or intensity.

Corpus desk

Index EN-increasingly · increasingly · English

increasingly · rank #3,760 · 19 variants · 1 confusable

FREQ-COMMON #3,760
LEN-MEGA 12 letters
VOW-5 5 vowels
CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
VAR-HIGH 19 variants
BOOK-MID 2,140
PHOTO-FINISH hence

Nearest frequency peer: hence (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

gifts

96,244
grass

96,243
hence

96,242
increasingly

96,241
incredibly

96,240
IV

96,239

What this shows “increasingly” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

increasingly vs increasing

83% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for increasingly
Property	Value
Headword	increasingly
Language	English
Part of speech	Adverb
Letters	12
Frequency rank	#3,760
Misspellings tracked	19
Confusable pairs	1
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “increasingly”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).increasinglylands here:

#3,760

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “hence” (#3,759), “incredibly” (#3,761), “grass” (#3,758). Among 2,140 “I” headwords, “increasingly” is #3,760. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 19 spelling variants around increasingly, anadverb. Corpus frequency is #3,760 among 2,140 “I” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Increasing in amount or intensity.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 19 likely wrong-spelling variants for increasingly, with forms such as "icnreasingly", "inccreasingly", and "incerasingly". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "increasing", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English encreessingli, equivalent to increasing + -ly. The correct English form is increasingly, spelled I-N-C-R-E-A-S-I-N-G-L-Y.

Definition

1
Increasing in amount or intensity.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how increasingly appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

After the introduction of the Highland Railway class, the progress of the 4-6-0 was tardy for some years.Then, when designers were increasingly turning to it as the answer to their growing motive power problems, production of 4-6-0s swelled into a flood tide.
Sydney is a fast city, and the pace is becoming increasingly more frantic.

Etymology

From Middle English encreessingli, equivalent to increasing + -ly.

Synonyms

more and more

This word in other languages

de plus en plus(Français)zunehmend(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

icnreasingly
inccreasingly
incerasingly
incraesingly
increaisngly
increasignly
increasinggly
increasinglly
increasinglyy
increasingyl
increasinlgy
increasinngly
increasnigly
increassingly
incresaingly
incrreasingly
inncreasingly
inrceasingly
nicreasingly

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of increasingly - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

Edit distance from "increasingly"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "increasingly"?

"increasingly" is spelled I-N-C-R-E-A-S-I-N-G-L-Y.

What does "increasingly" mean?

As an adverb, "increasingly" means: Increasing in amount or intensity.

What words are commonly confused with "increasingly"?

"increasingly" is commonly confused with "increasing". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

What is the origin of the word "increasingly"?

From Middle English encreessingli, equivalent to increasing + -ly. See the full etymology section above for more details.

Is PlainSpell free to use?

Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "increasingly", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 12 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

occasionally#3,710 instructions#3,820 Pennsylvania#3,645 headquarters#3,885

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (19 here; floor ≥5).

representing19 variants contribution19 variants compensation19 variants conservation19 variants