by degrees

1. Gradually, by successive steps or stages. For example, By degrees he began to delegate more and more of his duties to his staff. [Mid-1500s] Also see by inches.

Example Sentences

“Will & Harper’s” ability to walk a fine line between being edifying and didactic, entertaining and superficial, is woven into its very structure, with its stars’ connection deepening by degrees until they reach the Mojave Desert town of Trona, where Steele, in a shattering moment, reveals the depths of her past self-hatred.

From Los Angeles Times

Even after the Nazis invade Poland, halfway through the opening episode, things advance by degrees, so that the next worst thing can’t quite be imagined, and once imagined really believed.

From Los Angeles Times

Arti Gollapudi plays all three of Deepali’s older sisters, for example, differing mainly by degrees of uptightness.

From New York Times

The #MeToo movement offers proof that a culture can change — slowly and by degrees.

From Los Angeles Times

It hit me so forcefully: This is exactly how it happened — it happened by degrees,” she said.

From Washington Post