curse of dimensionality

noun

A problem in the analysis of multidimensional systems caused by the sparse nature of the available data.

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Meanings

noun
  1. computingA problem in the analysis of multidimensional systems caused by the sparse nature of the available data.
    1 more example

    The curse of dimensionality is that vectors will get exponentially farther and farther away from one another, in Euclidean distance, as the dimensionality increases. A lot of simple operations become impractical above 10 or 20 dimensions, like sorting a large list of vectors based on their distance[…]

    2019, Hannes Hapke, Cole Howard, Hobson Lane, Natural Language Processing in Action, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN

Origin

Coined by American mathematician Richard E. Bellman.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 維數災難 /维数灾难
  • 維數災難 /维数灾难 (wéishù zāinàn)Translations
Finnish dimensionaalisuuden kirous
  • dimensionaalisuuden kirousTranslations
German Fluch der Dimensionalität
  • Fluch der DimensionalitätTranslations
Portuguese maldição da dimensionalidade
  • maldição da dimensionalidadeTranslations
Romanian blestemul dimensionalității
  • blestemul dimensionalitățiiTranslations
Russian проклятие размерности
  • проклятие размерности (prokljatije razmernosti)Translations
Cite this entry
APA

curse of dimensionality. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/curse%20of%20dimensionality

MLA

“curse of dimensionality.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/curse%20of%20dimensionality. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “curse of dimensionality,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/curse%20of%20dimensionality.

Source: curse of dimensionality on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.