globular
Americanadjective
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globe-shaped; spherical.
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composed of or having globules.
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worldwide; global.
adjective
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shaped like a globe or globule
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having or consisting of globules
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of globular
Explanation
Something that's globular is round or spherical, like the big, globular heads your little brother adds when he's molding little people out of clay. Globular, "globe-shaped," comes from the Latin globus, "round mass or sphere." This adjective shows up a lot in scientific writing, including to describe a rounded mass of stars bound together by gravity — a globular cluster, or in astronomy shorthand, a globular. Strictly speaking, anything that's round is globular, from a tennis ball to the moon.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Astronomers have identified dozens of streams produced by globular clusters inside the Milky Way.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
The featured object is NGC 6426, a globular cluster located in the outer halo of the Milky Way.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026
Most of the stars in a globular cluster are born from the same collapsing cloud of gas, so they tend to be roughly the same age.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026
NGC 6426 is estimated to be around 13 billion years old, making it one of the oldest globular clusters in the Milky Way.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026
A globular cluster of stars, orbiting the galactic core.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
