tentacular

adjective

ten·​tac·​u·​lar ten-ˈta-kyə-lər How to pronounce tentacular (audio)
1
: of, relating to, or resembling tentacles
2
: equipped with tentacles

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web The most striking aspect of Ta Prohm, however, is the enormous, sinuous trees that seem to snake upward from its rooftops, their long tentacular roots spilling from the structure’s windows and doors like water. Hanya Yanagihara, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Jan. 2022 The series also chronicles the tentacular investigation launched in the aftermath of the tragedy. Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 22 July 2022 The town is dominated by a tentacular organization, ominously called only the Company, that wants to take over Reza’s land. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 14 June 2022 Financial entanglement was only one aspect of slavery’s tentacular reach. Andrew Delbanco, The New York Review of Books, 8 June 2022 My film isn’t about the attacks but rather about the tentacular investigation that was carried on by this special brigade to track down the two masterminds behind the attacks for five days. Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 27 May 2022 Quickly becoming as important to the franchise as some of its much more established figureheads, Ahsoka finally made her live-action debut in 2020, when Rosario Dawson slipped on her tentacular hair for the second season of The Mandalorian. ELLE, 8 Apr. 2022 For starters, the dreadful contemplation of showers of metallic-bead goo spewing from a hole on the surface of the moon and forming tentacular monsters of deadly dexterity is both ludicrous and eerie—what is in there? Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 4 Feb. 2022 Yi’s floating forms respond to the air in Turbine Hall in unpredictable ways, with each of the tentacular, bulbous creatures programmed to display its own set of behaviors. New York Times, 11 Oct. 2021 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tentacular.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin tentāculāris, from tentāculum tentacle + Latin -āris -ar

First Known Use

1828, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of tentacular was in 1828

Dictionary Entries Near tentacular

Cite this Entry

“Tentacular.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tentacular. Accessed 22 Mar. 2023.

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