exponential

[ ek-spoh-nen-shuhl, -spuh- ]

/ ˌɛk spoʊˈnɛn ʃəl, -spə- /

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See synonyms for exponential on Thesaurus.com

adjective

of or relating to an exponent or exponents.

Mathematics.

of or relating to the constant e.
(of an equation) having one or more unknown variables in one or more exponents.

rising or expanding at a steady, rapid rate:a city experiencing exponential growth.

noun

Mathematics.

the constant e raised to the power equal to a given expression, as e3x, which is the exponential of 3x.
any positive constant raised to a power.

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Origin of exponential

First recorded in 1695–1705; exponent + -ial

OTHER WORDS FROM exponential

ex·po·nen·tial·ly, adverbnon·ex·po·nen·tial, adjective

Words nearby exponential

explosive forming, explosive rivet, explosive welding, expo, exponent, exponential, exponential curve, exponential distribution, exponential function, exponential growth, exponential horn

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use exponential in a sentence

Meanwhile, the world has watched the exponential growth of wealth inequality and fossil-fuel-driven climate change.
Participation-washing could be the next dangerous fad in machine learning|Amy Nordrum|August 25, 2020|MIT Technology Review
To figure this out, some solvers fit exponential models directly to the data.
Are You Hip Enough To Be Square?|Zach Wissner-Gross|August 14, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
As group size grows, 4VA concentration shoots up, potentially broadcasting a larger signal and contributing to the exponential growth of swarms.
A single molecule may entice normally solitary locusts to form massive swarms|Jonathan Lambert|August 12, 2020|Science News
Scientists often describe trends that increase very dramatically as being exponential.
Explainer: What are logarithms and exponents?|Bethany Brookshire|August 12, 2020|Science News For Students

If everything goes to plan it may not be long before an army of robot scientists catapults us into a new age of exponential progress.
This Robotic Chemist Does Over 600 Experiments a Week and Learns From Its Own Work|Edd Gent|July 13, 2020|Singularity Hub
They started fast, grew at an almost exponential rate and then slowed, she wrote.
How Big Pharma Holds Back in the War on Cancer|ProPublica|April 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The numbers are still small, but the growth has been exponential since the first atheist church service was held in January.
Sunday Assembly Is the Hot New Atheist Church|Nico Hines|September 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Yet the exponential decline in the cost means that the threat posed by the fabrication of lethal bio-pathogens is rising.
Big Idea: The Time for Divided Nations Is Over|Ian Goldin|August 1, 2013|DAILY BEAST
This trend will only make more sense as the exponential cost drop continues.
Should Conservatives Embrace Solar Power?|Justin Green|September 17, 2012|DAILY BEAST
It has annual revenues exceeding $6 billion, an exponential improvement from the 1990s.
Onetime Internet Darling Yahoo Now on a Deathwatch|Zachary Karabell|January 5, 2012|DAILY BEAST
It multiplies and surges to its fulfillment at an exponential rate.
The Demi-Urge|Thomas Michael Disch
He pioneered the standard exponential notation for cubes and higher powers of numbers.
Our Legal Heritage, 5th Ed.|S. A. Reilly
The inevitable outcome is an exponential explosion in computing and networking power.
After the Rain|Sam Vaknin
The energy it would receive from the Sun as it approached, an exponential curve.
The Leech|Phillips Barbee

British Dictionary definitions for exponential

exponential

/ (ˌɛkspəʊˈnɛnʃəl) /

adjective

maths (of a function, curve, series, or equation) of, containing, or involving one or more numbers or quantities raised to an exponent, esp e x

maths raised to the power of e, the base of natural logarithmsSymbol: exp

of or involving an exponent or exponents

informal very rapid

noun

maths an exponential function, etc

Derived forms of exponential

exponentially, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for exponential

exponential

[ ĕk′spə-nĕn′shəl ]

Relating to a mathematical expression containing one or more exponents.♦ Something is said to increase or decrease exponentially if its rate of change must be expressed using exponents. A graph of such a rate would appear not as a straight line, but as a curve that continually becomes steeper or shallower.

exponential

Origin of exponential

OTHER WORDS FROM exponential

Words nearby exponential

Words related to exponential

How to use exponential in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for exponential

Derived forms of exponential

Scientific definitions for exponential