accelerate

[ak-sel-uh-reyt] / ækˈsɛl əˌreɪt /

VERB

increase speed, timing

Synonyms

STRONGEST

advance expedite further hasten open up quicken spur step up stimulate

STRONG

drive dust forward gun hurry impel precipitate railroad rev roll tool

WEAK

fire up hammer on lay a patch lay rubber make tracks nail it peel rubber put on afterburners put pedal to metal rev up speed up step on the gas

Antonyms

STRONGEST

block cease check delay discourage halt hinder slow stop

STRONG

dissuade repress wait

WEAK

decelerate defer impede postpone retard slow down

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

For travelers, the timing is particularly disruptive as summer bookings accelerate.

From Salon • May 2, 2026

The company expects year-over-year revenue growth to accelerate to around 35% in the second quarter, with a modest uptick in margins.

From Barron's • May 1, 2026

Goldman Sachs expects growth to accelerate to 3.5% on year, supported by improved activity data.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026

He also says Congress should accelerate funding for drought mitigation and disaster recovery.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

In Darwin's scheme, the rate of change of an organism was generally fixed, while the rate of natural selection could be amplified to accelerate evolution or dampened to decelerate it.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Vocabulary lists containing accelerate

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

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Holes

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Commonly Misspelled Words, List 2

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