elliptical

[ ih-lip-ti-kuhl ]

See synonyms for elliptical on Thesaurus.com

adjectiveAlso el·lip·tic.

pertaining to or having the form of an ellipse.
pertaining to or marked by grammatical ellipsis.

(of speech or writing) expressed with extreme or excessive economy; relieved of irrelevant matter: to converse in elliptical sentences.
(of a style of speaking or writing) tending to be ambiguous, cryptic, or obscure: an elliptical prose that is difficult to translate.

noun

Astronomy. elliptical galaxy.

Origin of elliptical

1650–60; <Greek elleiptik(ós) defective (see ellipsis, -tic) + -al¹

Other words from elliptical

el·lip·ti·cal·ness, noun
non·el·lip·tic, adjective
non·el·lip·ti·cal, adjective
non·el·lip·ti·cal·ly, adverb
o·ver·el·lip·ti·cal, adjective
o·ver·el·lip·ti·cal·ly, adverb
sub·el·lip·tic, adjective
sub·el·lip·ti·cal, adjective
un·el·lip·ti·cal, adjective

Words Nearby elliptical

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use elliptical in a sentence

They don’t live inside your elliptical at home, and if you’re walking down the street alone, they won’t just infest your airways.
The safest ways to exercise during a pandemic | Sara Kiley Watson | September 9, 2020 | Popular-Science
For extra credit, you looked at Al-Battani Island, which was elliptical rather than rectangular.
Are You Hip Enough To Be Square? | Zach Wissner-Gross | August 14, 2020 | FiveThirtyEight
The subjects were shown two at once, and were asked to choose, as quickly as possible, which one was actually the elliptical one.
This Vision Experiment Resolved a Centuries-Old Philosophical Debate - Facts So Romantic | Jim Davies | August 14, 2020 | Nautilus
If we discard the elliptical eye-image, though, that should keep your decision from slowing down.
This Vision Experiment Resolved a Centuries-Old Philosophical Debate - Facts So Romantic | Jim Davies | August 14, 2020 | Nautilus
The first is that the elliptical shape is abandoned early on in visual processing, replaced with belief that the manhole cover is circular, along with its orientation, color, and so on.
This Vision Experiment Resolved a Centuries-Old Philosophical Debate - Facts So Romantic | Jim Davies | August 14, 2020 | Nautilus

“I would go with yoga, light weight training or some elliptical,” he says.
5 Hangover Cures to Save You After a Few Too Many | DailyBurn | December 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The real heavyweights, though, are two giant elliptical galaxies known as NGC 4874 and NGC 4889.
The Care and Feeding of Baby Giant Galaxies | Matthew R. Francis | May 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Some of the mutterings of Rust Cohle come from the perfectly elliptical and safely imprecise musings of Thomas Ligotti.
‘True Detective,’ Obsessive-Compulsive Noir, and ‘Twin Peaks’ | Jimmy So | March 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
My wife, at least, enjoys watching me flail about on our elliptical.
23andMe and Me: Why Policymakers Should Set the Genetic Testing Company Free | Charles C. Johnson | February 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The same goes for the elliptical machine hunger strike, which also comes off as tonally deficient, to say the least.
‘Camp X-Ray,’ A Kristen Stewart-Starring Guantanamo Bay Film, Premieres at Sundance | Marlow Stern | January 18, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
In an orbit made elliptical by the planetary attraction the sun necessarily occupies one of the foci of the ellipse.
Outlines of the Earth's History | Nathaniel Southgate Shaler
Ere liueEre I should live is required in full by strict grammar, but Fields verse is frequently elliptical.
The Fatal Dowry | Philip Massinger
Exclamation is an expression of strong emotion in abrupt, inverted, or elliptical phrases.
English: Composition and Literature | W. F. (William Franklin) Webster
The entrance was a rather large elliptical arch; a man could enter by stooping.
Toilers of the Sea | Victor Hugo
The door was usually a piece of skin stretched over an elliptical frame.
Prairie Smoke (Second Edition, Revised) | Melvin Randolph Gilmore

British Dictionary definitions for elliptical

elliptical

/ (ɪˈlɪptɪkəl) /

adjective

relating to or having the shape of an ellipse
relating to or resulting from ellipsis

(of speech, literary style, etc)
- very condensed or concise, often so as to be obscure or ambiguous
- circumlocutory or long-winded

Also (for senses 1, 2): elliptic

usage For elliptical

The use of elliptical to mean circumlocutory should be avoided as it may be interpreted wrongly as meaning condensed or concise

Derived forms of elliptical

elliptically, adverb
ellipticalness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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