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 Earth is elliptical which means there are times when it is further away - apogee - and times when it is closer - perigee.

From BBC

She was—let’s just say it like it is—able to avoid looping, elliptical digressions, speak in short and complete sentences, and avoid major gaffes like misnaming and mistitling her running mate.

From Slate

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

From Los Angeles Times

The Crew Dragon capsule will be launched into a highly elliptical, or oval-shaped, orbit that at 870 miles above Earth will take it through portions of the Van Allen radiation belts, zones of highly charged solar particles with varying radiation levels.

From Los Angeles Times

Some of these mergers can become massive elliptical galaxies that contain black holes that are many billions of times the mass of our Sun.

From Space Scoop