funicular
Americanadjective
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of or relating to a rope or cord, or its tension.
-
worked by a rope or the like.
noun
noun
adjective
-
relating to or operated by a rope, cable, etc
-
of or relating to a funicle
Etymology
Origin of funicular
Explanation
A funicular is a railway that goes up the side of a mountain. A funicular is pulled by a moving cable and involves complex, counterbalanced movements of the cars. It's a coincidence that the word fun is in funicular, though riding a funicular would likely be very fun indeed: it's a railway that goes up a mountain. The real origin of the word has to do with ropes, cables, and pulleys and the complex way these devices are used to move things: such processes were called funicular. From there, funicular became the name of a train that used a similar cable-operated system to move.
Vocabulary lists containing funicular
"Ellen Outside the Lines" by A.J. Sass, Chapters 21–33
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And Both Were Young
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The Silver Arrow
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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.
Located on a 5-acre lot on the edge of the lake, the dwelling is known as Crystal Pointe and offers direct access to the water via a unique hillside track that operates two funicular trams.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 2, 2026
The head of Lisbon's municipal transport operator and its entire board resigned Wednesday, two days after an inquiry pointed to a faulty cable in a deadly funicular crash last month.
From Barron's • Oct. 22, 2025
The Portuguese victims included four members of staff from the same social care institution, whose offices sit at the top of the sheer side road serviced by the funicular.
From Barron's • Oct. 20, 2025
David Young, 82, from the Holyhead area on Anglesey, was among the 16 people who died last Wednesday when the Glória funicular derailed and crashed into a building in Portugal's capital.
From BBC • Sep. 8, 2025
To scale the tremendous incline to the summit there was a funicular railway, to which our party now transferred themselves, sitting on seats raised one above another as in the gallery of a theater.
From The Jolliest School of All by Brazil, Angela
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.
