globular

American  

[glob-yuh-ler] / ˈglɒb yə lər /

Or globulous

adjective

1. globe-shaped; spherical.

2. composed of or having globules.

3. worldwide; global.

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globular British  

/ ˈɡlɒbjʊlə, ˌɡlɒbjʊˈlærɪtɪ /

adjective

1. shaped like a globe or globule

2. having or consisting of globules

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Other Word Forms

• globularity
  noun
• globularly
  adverb
• globularness
  noun
• interglobular
  adjective
• nonglobular
  adjective
• nonglobularly
  adverb
• subglobular
  adjective
• subglobularity
  noun
• subglobularly
  adverb
• unglobular
  adjective
• unglobularly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of globular

1650–60; < Latin globul ( us ) globule + -ar ¹

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

Globular clusters themselves are extremely dense and tightly bound by gravity.

From Science Daily • Feb. 21, 2026

Globular clusters are highly concentrated collections of around a million stars.

From Salon • Feb. 14, 2023

Globular balloons with more sophisticated geodesic patterns than some residential homes are now an expectation.

From New York Times • Mar. 24, 2022

The grave, filled with 15 individuals from the so-called Globular Amorpha culture, was first discovered by archaeologists in 2011, near the village of Koszyce in southern Poland.

From Fox News • May 8, 2019

Globular clusters plunge through the galactic plane and out the other side, where they slow, reverse and hurtle back again.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan