“Increase” Synonym Guide — Definition, Antonyms, and Examples

Learning the synonyms of a word will benefit your vocabulary knowledge. The English language has a lot of interesting things to study about, including the concept of synonym and antonym. You might have found yourself searching in Google: increase synonym.

As an author, it’s your responsibility to improve your vocabulary by reading a thesaurus. It’s an excellent tool that can assist you in studying word synonyms. You can familiarize yourself with words like “increase” when using one.

By reading this article, you will learn from an increase synonym guide below.

The Definition of Increase

The English dictionary defines the term “increase” as both a verb and a noun. When you “increase” something, you “make it greater” or “bigger.” Increase may also mean “making something more relevant” or “valuable.”

Another good depiction of the word “increase” is “adding quantity or quality to a person or an object.” It’s also a way of “putting more” or “improving”. Increase may also mean “developing a certain level” or “improving a specific ranking.”

Examples:

• The laborers are protesting for salary increase amidst the pandemic.
• Guinevere wants to increase the air-conditioning’s temperature.
• The government will increase the number of enlistees for the Military Academy.
• Economic recession caused the increase in unemployment.
• Oil price increase will cause economic tolls.

Increase Synonyms — Exploring Words with Similar Meaning

Enlarge

It came from the Old French “enlargier” which meant “to add size.” Then, it was anglicized into its modern term which still follows the previous meaning. It also directly translates to “increase”.

It is also related to the term “large”.

The couple intends to enlarge the house’s garden.

Grow

The term comes from the Old English “growan” which directly translates to “increase”. It’s actually one of the closest synonyms which you can interchange with “increase”.

The sunflower will grow in a couple of months from now.

Rise

This term derives from the Old Norse “reisen”. The translation says, “to increase in level or status.”

Peasants will rise to power after the impending socialist revolution in Tsarist Russia.

Escalate

This is the youngest term with a similar meaning with “increase”. It can be dated back to 1920 when it was coined due to the invention of the concept of an escalator. Just like rise, it means “to increase in level” or “floor”.

The management wishes to escalate the matter to the COO.

Augment

Another synonym for “increase” is augment, similar to “expand”. It came from the Old French “espandre” which meant: “to go out” or “stretch out.”

I intend to augment my business shares.

Increase Antonyms — Exploring Words with Opposite Meanings

Decrease

The direct antonym of the word “increase” is “decrease”. The prefix “de-” indicates “to diminish”. Simply, it means: “to remove” or “minus”.

You have to decrease the volume of your music.

Reduce

Another antonym of “increase” is “reduce”. It came from the Latin term “reducere” which directly translates to “bring back.”

Reduce plastic waste now!

Abate

Abate came from the French term “abattre” which means “to beat down.” You use this term if you wish to de-escalate a situation or commotion.

The policemen tried to abate the people’s rally yesterday.

Subtract

By reading this term, you might think about the mathematical concept of subtraction. Well, you’re correct, as it means the same thing. It came from the Latin term “subtrahere” which meant: “to pull.”

I will subtract your debt from your salary.

Downsize

It’s one of the most common opposite term for “increase”. Downsize comes from two terms “down” and “size”. It literally means “to diminish the size.”

The committee decided to downsize the budget for this year.

To Wrap Up

To wrap it up, increase has five common synonyms and five common antonyms. You have to ensure that you’re familiar with these terms to improve your writing skills. Remember the things you’ve learned with this increase synonymguide.