Make Your Point: EXPONENTIAL

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pronounce EXPONENTIAL:

ECK spuh NENT shull

Hear it.

connect this word to others:

Let's say you're heading to work today for a ten-hour shift, during which you're responsible for only one task that typically takes five minutes: I bet you can find a way for it to take exponentially longer than it should. Not just 5 x 2 minutes, but about 5 x 5 x 5 x 5 minutes.

If that happens, you can claim you were simply abiding by P________'s law.

Can you recall that term? It's the "law" that states that anything tends to expand to fill all the available time.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

As I've mentioned before when we looked at the word "exponent," long ago in English, we would use the verb "expone," with Latin bits that literally mean "to place out, or to put out." To expone things meant to explain them, to express them in words.

We don't use "expone" today, but we do use "exponent."

In general, an exponent is person who promotes some idea they strongly believe in.

And in math, an exponent is a number or symbol that tells you how many times you need to multiply a number by itself. It's also called a power. I should really let a math teacher explain it:

(Source)

When you work with exponents, you work with numbers that grow very quickly. Like when Bender on Futurama makes two copies of himself, who each make two copies of themselves, and so on and so on until the copies overrun the planet. That's exponential reproduction.

(Source)

So, when we talk about exponential growth, an exponential increase, or other exponential things, we mean they're growing, increasing, or expanding in an extremely fast way by multiplying themselves again and again (or seeming to).

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "an exponential rise in spam calls."

Other forms:

The noun is "exponent(s)."

The adverb is "exponentially," as in "Spam calls have risen exponentially."

There's also a verb, but it's rare: "exponentiate," pronounced "ECK spuh NENT she yate." "Spam calls have exponentiated."

The noun for that action is "exponentiation," as in "We hate it: the exponentiation of spam calls." Whew, what a clunky word.

how to use it:

Pick the word "exponential" when you want to sound formal, dramatic, and mathematical as you describe the staggering speed at which something has grown or increased.

Typically, you'll be exaggerating when you do this. You might talk about exponential population growth, a seemingly exponential rise in housing costs, or an exponential increase in door-to-door politicking around election time.

examples:

"Now that the value of water has exponentially risen, I’ve been turning a substantial profit on the ÁguaViva."
— Neal Shusterman, Dry, 2011

"As fuel was consumed, the ship got lighter, and the acceleration more pronounced. Rising at this exponential rate, the craft quickly reached maximum acceleration, a limit defined not by the ship's power, but by the delicate human bodies inside."
— Andy Weir, The Martian, 2011

has this page helped you understand "exponential"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "exponential" without saying "mounting" or "epidemic."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "When (something changes), (joy, work, stress, happiness, pressure, excitement, difficulty, or other emotion or quality) increases exponentially."

Example 1: "When you're sleep-deprived, stress increases exponentially."

Example 2: "When we moved into a home with air conditioning, our comfort increased exponentially."

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for this month is Make Your Point Before & After!

I’ll give you a clue, and you give me a verbal mashup including at least one word or phrase we've studied before.

For example, if I give you "It's someone who meets you at the library to join you in a state of deep, serious, often gloomy thoughtfulness," then you give me "brown study buddy." It's a mashup of "brown study" and "study buddy."

Try this one today: When you're determined to relearn some math, so you can help your kids with their homework, but you realize that everything you remember about exponents and their opposites is hazy or even wrong, it's the way in which you decide to rip out everything you know about them right out of your brain so you can start over. (It's radical.)

To reveal the first two hints, highlight the hidden white text.

Hint 1: The number of words in this Before & After is... four.

Hint 2: The first word in this Before & After is... "square."

Hint 3: Use this term.

To see the answer, scroll all the way down.

review this word:

1. The approximate opposite of EXPONENTIAL, in its general sense, is

A. WELCOME.
B. GRADUAL.
C. DIVISIVE.

2. In Cosmos, Carl Sagan wrote that "On any planet, no matter what its biology or social system, an exponential increase in population will _____ every resource."

A. affect
B. swallow
C. free up

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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Make Your Point > Archived Issues > EXPONENTIAL

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.