lexicow

piecemeal

/ˈpiːsmiːl//ˈpiːsmiːl/·adjective, adverb
I watch someone wait at the edge of a chasm to cross. The bridge comes one plank at a time, out of order — a board here, then one far across, then nothing for a long while — so the span stays a scatter of boards and open gaps. One gap in the middle holds out long after the others are filled. Only when that last plank finally drops into place does the figure step out and walk across.
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Definition

Piecemeal means done in fragments, one bit at a time, rather than in a single planned sweep. It usually carries a faint criticism: a piecemeal reform handles problems as they surface instead of by one coherent design, which is why piecemeal efforts can leave a project stagnant for years. The old ending '-meal' means 'by measures', and that is the heart of it — progress dribbled out in disconnected pieces, with no unifying plan to hold them together.

Examples

  • Funding arrived piecemeal, so the bridge was built in disconnected sections over a decade.
  • Reforms introduced piecemeal rarely add up to anything a citizen can follow.
  • Rather than rebuild the system at once, the team patched it piecemeal, and the result was never robust.

Collocations

a piecemeal approach·done piecemeal·piecemeal reform·in piecemeal fashion·piecemeal changes

Synonyms

gradual·fragmentary·incremental·bit-by-bit·sporadic

Antonyms

wholesale·systematic·comprehensive

In TOEFL & IELTS

Works as both adjective and adverb with no '-ly' form ('built piecemeal', 'a piecemeal approach'). In essays it usually signals a lack of overall planning, so it leans negative — a useful contrast word against 'systematic' or 'comprehensive'.