oblong
Americanadjective
-
elongated, usually from the square or circular form.
-
in the form of a rectangle one of whose dimensions is greater than the other.
noun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of oblong
1375–1425; late Middle English oblonge < Latin oblongus rather long, equivalent to ob- ob- + longus long 1
Explanation
If you take a rectangle or a circle and stretch it out, you end up with an elongated shape called an oblong. If you stretch a circle until it becomes an oval, you've made it oblong. First consider the Latin word longus, which means "long," and the prefix "ob," which refers to some direction. It makes sense, then, that an oblong should be an elongated shape, stretched long in one direction. It can be used a noun or an adjective. If your dining room table is an oblong, you're going to need an oblong tablecloth.
Vocabulary lists containing oblong
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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.
See Examples For:
The map also showed oblong shapes above the tank site.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2026
Nothing about Kansei Matsuzawa’s upbringing in Japan had prepared him to kick an oblong ball through upright goalposts in Hawaii.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 19, 2025
There’s something rather whimsical about eating the oblong fruit.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2025
The most famous visual landmark associated with Singapore is probably the Marina Bay Sands, with Moshe Safdie’s oblong, swimmable rooftop straddling three buildings.
From Slate ● Mar. 28, 2025
It was studded with brown oblong shapes—petrified tree logs—and whitish fragments—pieces of petrified bone.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
We watch De Jaen fiddle — connecting and disconnecting wires, periodically tilting the glass oblongs to see whether anything happens.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 26, 2024
Most of Engida’s canvases are crowded with women in domestic scenes, their faces rendered in simple black lines, except for the bright red oblongs that often represent lips.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 14, 2020
“My sense of proportion tells me that oblongs are more attractive than squares, just as…a greyhound is more graceful than an English bulldog,” Mr. Earl wrote in a 1954 essay in the Saturday Evening Post.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2018
Each key came in a safe-deposit box envelope, those small, stiff oblongs that close with a reassuring snap.
From New York Times ● May 10, 2013
Mack, with a piece of chalk, drew five oblongs on the floor, each seven feet long and four feet wide, and in each square he wrote a name.
From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
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.
