elliptical

[ ih-lip-ti-kuhl ]

adjective

1. pertaining to or having the form of an ellipse.
2. pertaining to or marked by grammatical ellipsis.
3. (of speech or writing) expressed with extreme or excessive economy; relieved of irrelevant matter:

   to converse in elliptical sentences.

4. (of a style of speaking or writing) tending to be ambiguous, cryptic, or obscure:

   an elliptical prose that is difficult to translate.

noun

1. Astronomy. elliptical galaxy.

elliptical

/ ɪˈlɪptɪkəl /

adjective

1. relating to or having the shape of an ellipse
2. relating to or resulting from ellipsis
3. of speech, literary style, etc
   1. very condensed or concise, often so as to be obscure or ambiguous
   2. circumlocutory or long-winded

Usage

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

Derived Forms

• elˈlipticalness, noun
• elˈliptically, adverb

Other Words From

• 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of elliptical¹

1650–60; < Greek elleiptik ( ós ) defective ( ellipsis, -tic ) + -al ¹

Example Sentences

The Moon's orbit around the Earth is not a perfect circle - in fact it is elliptical, meaning its distance from Earth at any given time will vary.

From BBC

The Moon's orbit around Earth is elliptical which means there are times when it is further away - apogee - and times when it is closer - perigee.

From BBC

The camera tips skyward in several early moments of RaMell Ross’ exquisite, elliptical “Nickel Boys.”

From Los Angeles Times

An elliptical halo of thin, concentrated light floated in the capacious drill hall of the Park Avenue Armory on a recent morning, above a circular space designed to dissolve your sense of space and time.

From New York Times

This largely plotless book, in which elliptical fragments of autobiography are entwined with meditations on the cultural history of the color blue and loosely coalesce around the theme of depression, doesn’t exactly scream theater.

From New York Times