increase
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To make larger.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihnkreesSay the bold part a little louder.
noun: inkreessverb: inkreess
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪnkˈɹis
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
To make (a quantity, etc.) larger.
intransitiveof a quantityetc.
To become larger or greater, to greaten.
To multiply by the production of young; to be fertile, fruitful, or prolific.
noun
A quantity that is added
A process of becoming larger or longer or more numerous or more important
For a quantity, the act or process of becoming larger.
Offspring, progeny.
The amount by which something increases
“They proposed an increase of 15 percent in the fare.”
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To make (a quantity, etc.) larger.
Used this way, increase is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use increase
- “The boss finally increased her salary.”verb
- “They proposed an increase of 15 percent in the fare.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Made greater in size or amount or degree.
Becoming greater or larger.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Increase in price.
The amount a salary is increased.
The amount by which taxes are increased.
An increase in cost.
The amount a salary is increased.
Increase in the sum charged for riding in a public conveyance.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.