WordGarden.ioexponentially
C2Pronunciation
UK
- /ˌɛkspənˈɛnʃəlˌi/
US
- /ˌɛkspoʊˈnɛnʃəli/
Meanings
Adverb
at a rapidly accelerating rate
according to an exponent or exponential function
Beyond the definition
Imagine folding a piece of paper in half. Then in half again. And again. At first, it does not seem like much, but with each fold the thickness grows faster and faster. That is the basic idea here: something is not just increasing, but increasing at a rate that keeps speeding up.
Think about a rumor spreading through a school. At first, only a few people know it. But then those few tell two friends, who tell four, who tell eight. Soon the spread is speeding up very quickly. It is often used for growth in numbers, like users, sales, or data, and sometimes for a sharp rise in something like cost or pressure. It does not just mean more; it means more and more, faster and faster.
The word "exponentially" describes a kind of increase that is not steady. Instead, the rate itself keeps rising, so the change becomes larger and larger over time. The idea comes from mathematics, especially exponential functions such as , where growth happens through repeated multiplication rather than simple addition.
You will often hear it in contexts involving numbers, science, technology, and business. For example: "The company's profits have increased exponentially over the past decade." This does not simply mean they went up a lot. It means the growth kept getting faster, often because each increase builds on the one before it.
But "exponentially" is not limited to math or business. It can describe any increase that speeds up in a multiplying way. "The popularity of the new social media app grew exponentially after a celebrity endorsement." Or, "The amount of data produced online has grown exponentially." It often suggests a snowball effect: something starts small, then becomes much bigger very quickly.
Sometimes people also use it less strictly to emphasize a very sharp increase in intensity or degree: "Her frustration grew exponentially as she tried to fix the broken computer." In careful use, though, the word fits best when the idea of accelerating or multiplying growth is clear.
So, if you want to describe something that is not just growing, but growing faster and faster as it goes, "exponentially" is the right word. It points to multiplying growth, not merely a large increase. That is why it is so common in discussions of population, computing, finance, disease spread, and other situations where small changes can quickly turn into very large ones.
Examples
- 1
Online sales
The number of online orders grew exponentially during the holiday sale.
- 2
Business costs
As the company added more customers, its support costs increased exponentially.
- 3
Software testing
With each extra language the app supports, the testing work rises exponentially.
- 4
Savings growth
If you keep reinvesting the profits, your savings can grow exponentially over time.
More examplesFewer examples
- 5
Project complexity
The project became exponentially harder once three teams started changing the same code.
See also
Similar
Shades of meaning
Contrast
Used with (collocations)
- grow exponentially
- increase exponentially
- rise exponentially
- exponentially faster
Word family
Explore
- compound growth
- exponential curve
Forms and spellings
1 form open this card.
Main spelling
- exponentiallyadverb