stepwise

American  

[step-wahyz] / ˈstɛpˌwaɪz /

adverb

1. in a steplike arrangement.

2. Music. from one adjacent tone to another.

   The melody ascends stepwise.

---

adjective

1. Music. moving from one adjacent tone to another.

   stepwise melodic progression.

stepwise British  

/ ˈstɛpˌwaɪz /

adjective

1. arranged in the manner of or resembling steps

2. music proceeding by melodic intervals of a second

---

adverb

1. with the form or appearance of steps; step by step

2. music in a stepwise motion

Etymology

Origin of stepwise

First recorded in 1885–90; step + -wise

Example Sentences

"We've come far, but not far enough," Jorgensen added in Tuesday's news conference, adding that measures to phase out Russian energy would be "stepwise and gradual" to minimise the impact on the EU.

From BBC • May 6, 2025

After that, it was an inevitable stepwise return to the everyday stuff of living.

From Slate • Nov. 26, 2023

In general, mutations in multiple genes accumulate in a stepwise manner when normal cells become cancerous.

From Science Daily • Nov. 22, 2023

Astronomers thought the black holes formed stepwise within early galaxies, as giant stars collapsed and merged, but quasars detected from when the universe was less than 1 billion years old have challenged the idea.

From Science Magazine • Aug. 22, 2023

For Lawrence, the stepwise acceleration of particles by multiple small impulses “immediately impressed me as the real answer which I had been looking for to the technical problem of accelerating positive ions.”

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik