exponential growth

Cultural  

1. Growth of a system in which the amount being added to the system is proportional to the amount already present: the bigger the system is, the greater the increase. (See geometric progression.)

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In everyday speech, exponential growth means runaway expansion, such as in population growth.

Example Sentences

Much time is spent these days charting the exponential growth of technology.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026

Tenev said that Robinhood handled 2.3 billion prediction-market contracts in the third quarter, and then saw another 2.5 billion contracts traded in October — hinting that the fourth quarter could continue this exponential growth.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 5, 2025

"Since QSI's initial acquisition in 2011, Paris Saint-Germain's valuation, and interest from investors, has experienced exponential growth, reflecting the club's transformation into one of the most valuable and influential sports brands in the world."

From Barron's • Oct. 28, 2025

This cultural shift is hard to measure, but it's no doubt a contributing factor to the seemingly exponential growth in scamming, especially on social media.

From Salon • May 2, 2025

It’s been estimated that, because of the exponential growth of the world’s population, between 10 and 20 percent of all the human beings who have ever lived are alive now.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos