At once and Gradually

At once

At once adverb - Without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening.

Gradually and at once are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Gradually" instead an adverb phrase "At once".

Gradually

Gradually adverb - By small steps or amounts.

At once and gradually are semantically related. Sometimes you can replace phrase "At once" with "Gradually", this terms are similar.

Nearby Words: gradual, gradation, gradualism

Mutual synonyms

Both terms in one sentence

  • Film / The Machinist The Reveal: Happens gradually throughout the film, instead of all at once: Reznik once killed a young boy, drove on instead of stopping to help, and is now going insane with repressed guilt.
  • Harmless Freezing The effects of the freezing gradually wear off and the target snaps out of the effect all at once, with no recollection of the passage of time, as though waking from slumber.
  • Video Game / Kingdom Hearts II Plus the PS2 CPU can't actually handle that many enemies at once so most are just background, gradually disappearing as you take the Heartless down.
Cite this Source
Gradually and At once. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/at_once/gradually
At once & Gradually. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/at_once/gradually>.
Gradually or At once. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/at_once/gradually.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "at once" and "gradually" have occurred on timeline