piecemeal
adverb · adjective · noun · verb
Simple meaning
In small amounts, stages.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
peesmeelSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpismil
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.
adverb
Piece by piece; in small amounts, stages, or degrees.
Into pieces or parts.
adjective
idiomatic
Made or done in pieces or one stage at a time.
noun
A fragment; a scrap.
verb
transitive
To divide or distribute piecemeal; dismember.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Piece by piece; in small amounts, stages, or degrees.
Used this way, piecemeal is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Mild
- 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 piecemeal
- “The research structure has developed piecemeal.”adverb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: made or done in pieces
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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.