Thesaurus
elliptical
adjective
Synonyms and Antonyms of ELLIPTICAL
1
having an often intentionally veiled or uncertain meaning <the poet's elliptical style is such that the reader often senses that an allusion is being made—but to what exactly?>
Synonyms ambiguous, arcane, cryptic, dark, deep, Delphic, double-edged, elliptical (or elliptic), enigmatic (also enigmatical), equivocal, fuliginous, inscrutable, murky, mysterious, mystic, nebulous, occult, opaque
Related Words abstruse, esoteric, recondite; cloaked, concealed, disguised, masked, shrouded; beclouded, bedimmed, befogged, clouded, cloudy, dim, faint, foggy, fuzzy, hazy, indistinct, indistinguishable, misty, muddy, obfuscatory, obnubilated, obscurant (or obscurantic), shaded, shadowlike, shadowy, sphinxlike; indefinite, inexact, inexplicit, noncommittal, questionable, unclear, uncertain, undefined, undetermined, vague; impenetrable, incomprehensible, indecipherable, inexplicable; eerie (also eery), uncanny, weird; impalpable, inappreciable, intangible, invisible; unanswerable, unknowable; baffling, bewildering, confounding, confusing, mystifying, perplexing, puzzling, unfathomable; circuitous, indirect, roundabout; complex, complicated, difficult, obtuse
Near Antonyms comprehensible, fathomable, intelligible, knowable, legible, pellucid, understandable; bright, distinct, evident, self-evident, self-explanatory; certain, firm, strong, sure; defined, determined; direct, straightforward; definite, exact, explicit; appreciable, palpable, tangible, visible; blatant, patent, unmistakable
2
having the shape of an egg <the villa's marble pool is surrounded by an elliptic arrangement of ancient Greek statuary>
3
marked by the use of few words to convey much information or meaning <his elliptical replies can seem rude to some people, but that's just his way>
Synonyms aphoristic, apothegmatic, brief, capsule, compact, compendious, crisp, curt, elliptical (or elliptic), epigrammatic, laconic, monosyllabic, pithy, sententious, succinct, summary, telegraphic, terse, thumbnail
Related Words abrupt, blunt, brusque (also brusk), short, snippety, snippy; abbreviated, abridged, condensed, curtailed, shortened; meaty, substantial; meaningful, significant; well-turned
Near Antonyms pleonastic, redundant, repetitious, tautological, tautologous; enlarged, expanded, supplemented; embellished, embroidered, exaggerated, inflated
Variants of ELLIPTICAL
elliptical or elliptic
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