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

School choice is out of the bottle, experiencing exponential growth.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026

The proposal asks for contributions from people who will quickly recoup what they are taxed given the exponential growth of their assets, he said.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 26, 2026

The country's robotaxi services are expected to reach US$70 million by 2025, but will see exponential growth to US$39.4 billion by 2030 and US$183.0 billion by 2035, according to consultancy Frost & Sullivan.

From Barron's • Nov. 6, 2025

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

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