Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cyclical
Explanation
Though day-to-day weather changes are unpredictable, nature’s seasons can always be counted on to move in cyclical or predictable patterns. Cyclical is used to describe things that are regularly patterned or that occur in regular intervals. The root of cyclical is “cycle” which means movement in a circular fashion, or the circular fashion itself. Planets orbit the sun in cyclical patterns, the moon’s phases are cyclical as well. Some stock brokers say that the market is cyclical, but that may be just a way of telling people to keep investing when it's down.
Vocabulary lists containing cyclical
100 SAT words Beginning with "C"
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Space Science (Astronomy) - Introductory
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Earth and the Solar System - Middle School
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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.
Investors, however, are still wondering whether the old rules of cyclical investing—such as not paying up for cyclical stocks when things are already as good as they can get—still apply.
From Barron's • May 21, 2026
The heavy-duty truck market is notoriously cyclical, as demand typically soars ahead of regulatory changes and then collapses for a year or two after new rules are in place.
From Barron's • May 21, 2026
Memory chips are a perfect example of a highly cyclical industry.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2026
Therefore, the historically cyclical sector “is structurally more important than it has ever been,” in his view, since it is crucial to improving AI.
From MarketWatch • May 11, 2026
The controlled binding and unbinding of iron and oxygen—the cyclical rusting and unrusting of blood—allows effective oxygen delivery into tissues.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
