From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishellipticalel‧lip‧ti‧cal /ɪˈlɪptɪkəl/ (also elliptic /-tɪk/) adjective 1 CFhaving the shape of an ellipse Kepler published his discovery of the elliptical orbits of planets in 1609.2 CLEAR/EASY TO UNDERSTANDelliptical speech or writing is difficult to understand because more is meant than is actually said The language is often elliptical and ambiguous.
Examples from the Corpus
elliptical• The blade is as long as the petiole, elliptical, and dark green with very dark nerves.• Compared with the lectures, the book is condensed, elliptical and impatient.• I gather from the elliptical description that follows that he began to patronize the coffee shop a lot more frequently.• First, how is successful communication possible despite the fact that many utterances produced are incomplete, elliptical or linguistically ill-formed?• The earth moves around the sun in an elliptical orbit.• Kepler first discovered the elliptical orbits of the planets.• The body was supported on three-quarter elliptical springs at the end.• The theme is often hard to find in his elliptical storytelling• Karlin relates the oppressive anti-Semitism his forebears endured in a vague, almost elliptical style with dips into the stream of consciousness.• A striking feature of this architectural style is the elliptical windows.• The Earth is bowl-shaped and elliptical, with a length one and a half times its breadth.Origin elliptical (1600-1700) Greek elleiptikos, from elleipein; → ELLIPSIS 