circular
Americanadjective
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having the form of a circle; round.
a circular tower.
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of or relating to a circle.
a circular plane.
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moving in or forming a circle or a circuit.
the circular rotation of the earth.
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moving or occurring in a cycle or round.
the circular succession of the seasons.
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roundabout; indirect; circuitous.
a circular route.
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Logic. of or relating to reasoning in which the conclusion is ostensibly proved, but in actuality it or its equivalent has been assumed as a premise.
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pertaining to a circle or set of persons.
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(of a letter, memorandum, etc.) addressed to a number of persons or intended for general circulation.
noun
adjective
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of, involving, resembling, or shaped like a circle
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circuitous
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(of arguments) futile because the truth of the premises cannot be established independently of the conclusion
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travelling or occurring in a cycle
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(of letters, announcements, etc) intended for general distribution
noun
Other Word Forms
- circularity noun
- circularly adverb
- circularness noun
- noncircular adjective
- noncircularly adverb
- subcircular adjective
- subcircularly adverb
- uncircular adjective
- uncircularly adverb
Etymology
Origin of circular
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin circulāris, equivalent to circul(us), circlus “a circular form or figure; a ring or circle” + -āris adjective suffix; see origin at circle, -ar 1
Explanation
If something is circular, it has a round shape. You might take a circular route on your jog, running all the way around the park. You can build a circular fence around your garden, or pipe frosting flowers in a circular design on top of a birthday cake. Look at either from above, and they form circles. In logic, a circular argument is one that ends up exactly where it started — you assume something, rather than proving it. A paper advertisement can also be called a circular, from the idea that it's distributed to a certain circle, or group, of people.
Vocabulary lists containing circular
Geometry - Introductory
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Geometry (Base List)
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Measurement and Data
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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.
In some cases, OpenAI critics have said certain financing arrangements are circular in nature, with the company’s partners providing funding and the company spending money on computing with that partner.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026
It will build a historical archive of memories, a social history of royal events, and will be supplemented by a digitised version of the "court circular", which records the working lives of the Royal Family.
From BBC • Apr. 20, 2026
Because the atoms move in a circular path, they carry angular momentum.
From Science Daily • Apr. 19, 2026
The show gets very complicated on its way to a circular semi-conclusion; there is a lot going on, with Linda’s mayoral ambitions and various relationship issues.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2026
They all have circular pins with their names on them— Augustina, Gertrude, and Ama.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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.
