spherical

adjective

spher·​i·​cal ˈsfir-i-kəl How to pronounce spherical (audio)
ˈsfer-
1
: having the form of a sphere or of one of its segments
2
: relating to or dealing with a sphere or its properties
spherically adverb

Did you know?

Something spherical is like a sphere in being round, or more or less round, in three dimensions. Apples and oranges are both spherical, for example, even though they're never perfectly round. A spheroid has a roughly spherical shape; so an asteroid, for instance, is often spheroidal—fairly round, but lumpy.

Examples of spherical in a Sentence

the planet Earth is not, in fact, perfectly spherical
Recent Examples on the Web The bowl cupped a spherical cloud of iron that acted as a radiator for the waste heat emitted by Paradise’s quadrillions of computing modules. Karl Schroeder, IEEE Spectrum, 24 Feb. 2024 When part of a cloud reaches some critical density, gravity causes that dense, roughly spherical region to collapse into a flattened, whirling protoplanetary disk with a nascent, glowing star at its center. Shannon Hall, Scientific American, 23 Feb. 2024 The majority of the cats started fetching before their first birthday, at an average age of 7 months, and the most popular fetching items included toys, cosmetics and spherical objects, with miscellaneous items and arts and crafts supplies following behind. Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Dec. 2023 One of the cylindrical vessels was found less than 5 feet from the spherical vessel in 2007, researchers said. Moira Ritter, Miami Herald, 5 Mar. 2024 At 366 feet tall and 516 feet wide, It is billed as the world’s largest spherical structure. Lisa Respers France, CNN, 4 Mar. 2024 It’s inspired by the Japanese Wabi-Sabi style, with a spherical design that looks just like a cloud, giving off a gentle, soft glow. Claire Rutter, Rolling Stone, 21 Feb. 2024 The issue seems to be that the antenna does not, as stated, give full spherical coverage, but more of a toroidal or donut shape. David Hambling, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024 Designed to tie in the five elements and the five senses, this Greek idyll is built into a mountain and has a large spherical pool as its physical and spiritual center. Leila Milgrim, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'spherical.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of spherical was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near spherical

Cite this Entry

“Spherical.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spherical. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

spherical

adjective
spher·​i·​cal ˈsfir-i-kəl How to pronounce spherical (audio)
ˈsfer-
: relating to or having the form of a sphere or part of a sphere
spherically adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on spherical

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