What Is a Stronger Synonym for "Increased" on a Resume?
Last updated:
There is nothing wrong with the word "increased" — it is clear and honest. The problem is that it is everywhere, so recruiters skim past it, and it flattens the result. "Increased engagement" reads as a small, passive bump even when you ran a campaign that moved the metric sharply. A stronger verb signals how big the gain was and how you earned it, which is what turns a forgettable line into a number a reader remembers.
Below are 11 stronger alternatives to "increased," each with a clear note on when to use it and a before/after bullet that shows the upgrade in context. Pick the verb that matches what you really did — an accurate verb backed by a real number always beats an inflated one.
Why "increased" weakens your resume
"Increased" is one of the most overused verbs on results bullets, so it stops registering — a recruiter scanning 40 resumes reads straight past it. It also undersells the work: it states an outcome (a number is now higher) without conveying the magnitude, the speed, or the method behind it. The reader cannot tell whether you nudged a metric up 2% or rebuilt a funnel that doubled it.
Stronger verbs do two jobs at once. They show the size of the change — "doubled" implies a clean multiple, "boosted" implies a sharp deliberate lift, "grew" implies sustained gain — and they hint at the method, like "scaled" for expansion or "accelerated" for speed. The same accomplishment lands far harder when the verb matches the size and nature of the win and a concrete figure follows right behind it.
11 stronger alternatives to "increased"
1Grew
Best for steady, sustained, compounding growth in a metric you built over time.
Before Increased monthly recurring revenue over the year.
After Grew monthly recurring revenue from 120K dollars to 310K dollars over 12 months.
2Boosted
For a sharp, deliberate lift you can point to a specific action behind.
Before Increased email open rates for the newsletter.
After Boosted newsletter open rates from 18% to 31% by rewriting subject lines and resend logic.
3Doubled
When the gain was a clean 2x and the multiple is genuinely true.
Before Increased qualified leads from the website.
After Doubled qualified inbound leads to 480 per month by relaunching the landing pages.
4Tripled
For a 3x jump that is real and provable — reserve it for standout results.
Before Increased the size of the partner channel.
After Tripled partner-sourced revenue to 2.1M dollars within 18 months.
5Scaled
When the increase came from expanding capacity, reach, or volume systematically.
Before Increased the number of users the platform supported.
After Scaled the platform from 50K to 400K active users while holding latency under 200ms.
6Accelerated
When you increased the pace or rate of something, not just its total.
Before Increased how quickly deals moved through the pipeline.
After Accelerated pipeline velocity 45%, cutting the average deal cycle from 60 to 33 days.
7Expanded
For widening a footprint — markets, accounts, coverage, or product reach.
Before Increased the territory the team covered.
After Expanded coverage into 7 new regional markets, adding 1.4M dollars in annual revenue.
8Raised
For lifting a defined rate, score, or threshold to a higher level.
Before Increased customer satisfaction scores.
After Raised the customer satisfaction score from 72 to 89 over three quarters.
9Drove
When you want to claim ownership of the growth and the action that caused it.
Before Increased adoption of the new feature.
After Drove feature adoption to 64% of the active base within 8 weeks of launch.
10Lifted
For a clean, measured upward move in a conversion or performance metric.
Before Increased checkout conversion on mobile.
After Lifted mobile checkout conversion from 2.3% to 3.9%, adding roughly 220K dollars in quarterly sales.
11Maximized
When you pushed a resource, return, or output to its highest practical level.
Before Increased the return on ad spend across campaigns.
After Maximized return on ad spend to 5.2x across paid channels, up from 3.1x.
Let AI find the strongest word for every bullet
Resumly's AI resume builder rephrases any bullet into up to 10 stronger variants, flags weak and overused words, and tailors your resume to each job — free to start, no credit card.
Improve my resume freeFree forever plan · No credit card required
Frequently asked questions
Is "increased" a good resume word?
It is not wrong, just weak — it is so common that recruiters skim past it, and it states a result without showing the scale or the effort behind it. Swapping in a more specific verb like "grew," "boosted," or "doubled" and pairing it with a hard number makes the same accomplishment land much harder.
What is a stronger synonym for "increased" on a resume?
It depends on what happened. Use "grew" for sustained growth, "boosted" for a sharp lift you drove, "doubled" or "tripled" when the multiple is real, "scaled" or "expanded" for growth through capacity or reach, and "accelerated" when you sped up a rate. The most accurate verb is always the strongest, and it should be followed by a figure.
How many times should I use "increased" on a resume?
Ideally once or not at all. Repeating any single verb flattens your resume, and "increased" is one of the most repeated words on results bullets. Vary your verbs across lines — "grew" here, "boosted" there, "scaled" elsewhere — so the resume shows range and reads naturally rather than recycling one tired word.
