successively

[ suhk-ses-iv-lee ]

adverb

1. in uninterrupted sequence; one after another; consecutively:

   First appointed to the Board of Directors 12 years ago, he has served successively as director, secretary, treasurer, and now, president-elect.

Other Words From

• non·suc·ces·sive·ly adverb
• un·suc·ces·sive·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of successively¹

First recorded in 1400–50; successive ( def ) + -ly ( def )

Example Sentences

Pumpkins have come a long way since then, as Indigenous American communities carefully adapted the wild pumpkin into successively bigger and better-tasting varieties.

From Salon

The head-to-head elimination matches have competitors shooting three arrows in each of five “ends,” with the bull’s-eye equaling 10 points, the outer rings successively less.

From Los Angeles Times

A team at the University of California San Diego exposed batches of spores from a strain of Bacillus subtilis bacterium to rounds of successively higher temperatures.

From Science Magazine

Instead of being strategically managed to address the realities of the future, WSU has successively cut budgets across the board:

From Seattle Times

After a series of apologies that became successively more contrite, Al-Alim staked out a somewhat different position at a campaign forum last week, asserting, “I’m not ashamed of anything.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• again and again
• generally
• intermittently
• many times
• often
• periodically
• regularly
• time and again
• usually