Synonyms of escalating

escalating

verb

present participle of escalate

1

as in increasing

to become greater in extent, volume, amount, or number

as the war between the two countries escalated, it threatened to become a global conflict

Synonyms & Similar Words

• increasing
• rising
• accelerating
• swelling
• expanding
• intensifying
• climbing
• multiplying
• proliferating
• snowballing
• mounting
• accumulating
• waxing
• mushrooming
• ballooning
• spreading
• surging
• burgeoning
• booming
• enlarging
• gaining
• rolling up
• skyrocketing
• heightening
• jumping
• appreciating
• building up
• rocketing
• inflating
• peaking
• redoubling
• distending
• puffing (up)
• cresting
• bulking
• crescendoing
• blowing up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• decreasing
• diminishing
• contracting
• lessening
• receding
• waning
• dwindling

2

as in accelerating

to make greater in size, amount, or number

the president promised to escalate the government's program to combat the dreaded disease

Synonyms & Similar Words

• increasing
• accelerating
• expanding
• boosting
• augmenting
• raising
• multiplying
• extending
• intensifying
• swelling
• enhancing
• stoking
• compounding
• amplifying
• reinforcing
• adding (to)
• enlarging
• upping
• strengthening
• maximizing
• hyping
• skyrocketing
• pumping up
• building up
• aggrandizing
• spiking
• supersizing
• heightening
• supplementing
• booming
• developing
• jumping
• inflating
• prolonging
• lengthening
• stretching
• bumping (up)
• complementing
• distending
• elongating
• drawing out
• dilating
• protracting
• accumulating
• ratcheting (up)
• magnifying
• blowing up
• fleshing (out)
• amassing
• collecting
• racheting (up)
• beefing (up)
• following up
• parlaying

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• reducing
• decreasing
• diminishing
• lowering
• dwindling
• lessening
• downsizing
• subtracting (from)
• abating
• curtailing
• shortening
• de-escalating
• abbreviating
• contracting
• abridging
• compressing
• minifying
• condensing
• constricting
• cutting back
• retrenching

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of escalating

French budget crisis worsens amid student protests France could be on the precipice of a financial crisis, as escalating student protests roiled an already shaky bond market. — Morgan Chalfant, semafor.com, 7 Oct. 2026

The policy laid out four AI safety levels (ranging from the least dangerous models, ASL- 1, to the most dangerous, ASL- 4), with escalating rules and protections at each level. — Kevin Roose, Vanity Fair, 7 Oct. 2026

The Houthis have responded by escalating missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, claiming to have struck the international airport in the capital, Riyadh, an Aramco refinery and Saudi military bases. — ABC News, 6 Oct. 2026

In a statement shared on social media on Tuesday morning, Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said airports in Jazan and Najran were targeted in attacks amid escalating tensions with the Houthis. — Sam Meredith, CNBC, 6 Oct. 2026

The employee is not escalating a problem or avoiding responsibility. — Guy Yehiav, Forbes.com, 5 Oct. 2026

Meanwhile, the escalating price of seafood challenged Darden’s original dream—and parent companies’ finances. — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2026

The allegations by Beam, based in Cambridge, comes amid escalating tensions between American biotechs and their Chinese counterparts. — Elaine Chen, STAT, 30 Sep. 2026

And there’s absolutely no doubt that this one is riding in on top of temperatures already greatly elevated by greenhouse-gas emissions, escalating its impacts. — Bill McKibben, New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2026