# asymptotic

/ˈæsɪmpˌtɔtɪk/ (US) · CEFR C1 · Adjective

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/asymptotic
Updated: 2026-05-31

## Definition

describing a line or curve that gets closer and closer to another line but never actually touches it. In math, it also describes a value that gets very close to a limit as it grows.

For teachers: relating to a line or curve that approaches a given line or curve arbitrarily closely as they extend toward infinity. In computational complexity, it describes the limiting behavior of functions as the input size grows.

## Examples

- The two lines are asymptotic and will never meet.
- In calculus, we study how the function behaves as it approaches an asymptotic limit at the edge of the graph.
- The algorithm's performance is asymptotic to O(n log n), meaning that as the dataset grows, the time required increases at a rate proportional to the logarithm of the input size.

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