elliptical
7
7.9
- adjective
- /ɪˈlɪptɪkəl/
- Formal
:
elíptico
- For the reader unacquainted with Spinoza and Deleuze, I ask that you accept that this concept, although elliptical, is foundational.
- elliptical form
And so I'm so glad you pointed that out because I didn't go with a more elliptical side door title.
- And so I'm so glad you pointed that out because I didn't go with a more elliptical side door title.
Examples
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Willow pattern's distilled a sweeping saga of passion and betrayal into one perfect elliptical pictogram.
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His instructions were so elliptical that I wasn't sure what he meant.
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One here is an elliptical expression for one or the other.
Academic text (2003) -
I mean, this again, is another sequence that needs to be quite elliptical.
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So I'm using a kind of elliptical structure and hoping I'll get away with it, basically.
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The genre continues to ask us to participate by its necessarily elliptical form.
Academic text (1993) -
In an abstract, elliptical way, she sometimes found it annoying.
Fiction book (1999) -
The piece suggests that our inner landscape is defined by cinematic images and the elliptical spaces between them rather than by nature.
Academic text (1999) -
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1931, my early childhood remains accessible to me only as a series of elliptical, enigmatic memories.
Fiction book (2002) -
Their wording is grammatically elliptical, typographically clear, and often meant to be legible from a distance.
Academic text (2003)
Synonyms
587
2.0
Using few words or lasting only a short time
5
8.3
Using very few words, often sounding rude
To speak or write using few words and leave out important details
Tending to leave out important facts or details
Simple and having few details
Antonyms
How Concise
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Elliptical comes from an old Greek idea meaning 'to leave out' and is the same root as the three dots called ellipsis that show missing words. So an elliptical remark 'leaves out' details and can sound deliberately short or unclear.