elliptical

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.

Some exoplanets follow highly elliptical orbits, meaning the amount of heat they receive from their star changes significantly over time.

From Science Daily • Mar. 25, 2026

This elliptical approach is in part its strength, subtly illuminating how trying to move past one tragedy may bring a family to the precipice of another.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026

The Moon's orbit around the Earth is not circular but elliptical, meaning that the distance between the two varies throughout the year.

From BBC • Oct. 4, 2025

Librettist Gene Scheer distilled Michael Chabon’s sprawling, Pulitzer Prize-winning book from 2000 into a straightforward, primary-colored plot, losing much of its magical, elliptical atmosphere.

From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 23, 2025

She lost herself in the blond wood grain, slipping into the elliptical lines of age on the wood’s surface.

From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers