lenticular
Americanadjective
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of or relating to a lens.
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biconvex; convexo-convex.
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resembling the seed of a lentil in form; lentil-shaped.
adjective
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Also: lentoid. shaped like a biconvex lens
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of or concerned with a lens or lenses
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shaped like a lentil seed
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of or relating to a galaxy with a large central bulge, small disc, but no spiral arms, intermediate in shape between spiral and elliptical galaxies
Other Word Forms
- lenticularly adverb
- postlenticular adjective
- sublenticular adjective
Etymology
Origin of lenticular
1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin lenticulāris lentillike, equivalent to lenticul ( a ) ( see lenticle) + -āris -ar 1
Explanation
The adjective lenticular describes things with a round shape that's thinner on the edges and widest in the middle, like a lentil. A classic flying saucer is also lenticular. Lenticular is sometimes defined as "lens-shaped," and its Latin root is lens, "lentil." A double-convex lens is shaped like a lentil (imagine two spoons facing each other to get the idea). Lenticular can describe that particular shape, like a lenticular cloud formation. It can also mean "relating to a lens," so eye doctors diagnose conditions like lenticular astigmatism, which affects the eye's lens and causes blurred vision.
Vocabulary lists containing lenticular
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.
What has been observed may look like flying saucers but they are actually lenticular clouds, also referred to by some as pancake or UFO clouds.
From BBC • Jan. 17, 2025
For its new exhibition, “The End of Fossil Fuel,” one lenticular map displays the world in shades of black, white and gray.
From New York Times • Dec. 29, 2023
The constantly moving and changing images of her lenticular designs feel like activating the same part of your brain as a Chuck E. Cheese.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 13, 2023
The packaging includes a holographic style, lenticular slip cover and a fold-out Bandits’ map with the essay “Guerrilla Fantasy” by critic David Sterritt on the back.
From Washington Times • Jul. 7, 2023
Achenes obovoid or lenticular, pappus none.—Herbaceous or shrubby coarse plants, with thickish leaves, the lower opposite, and small nodding greenish-white heads of flowers; in summer and autumn.
From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa
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.
