oblong

1 of 2

adjective

ob·​long ˈä-ˌblȯŋ 

: deviating from a square, circular, or spherical form by elongation in one dimension

an oblong piece of paper

an oblong melon

see leaf illustration

oblong

2 of 2

noun

: something that is oblong

These paintings, predominately black with vertical or horizontal bisections of white mixed with streaks of red, blue, or ochre, are reminiscent of … Mark Rothko's irradiated oblongs.

—The New Yorker

Did you know?

Oblong is a general but useful term for describing the shape of things such as leaves. There's no such thing as an oblong circle, since a stretched circle has to be called an oval, and any rectangle that isn't square is oblong, at least if it's lying on its side (such rectangles can actually be called oblongs). Pills are generally oblong rather than round, to slide down the throat more easily. An oblong table will often fit a living space better than a square or round one with the same area. And people are always buried in oblong boxes.

Examples of oblong in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Most of the superheavy elements that have been probed so far have oblong nuclei shaped like footballs, says Michael Block, a physicist at GSI. —Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 14 May 2024

Landreth worked for two and a half years on the film, recording interviews with Larkin, then working with a team of animators to depict the characters as oblong beings with holes in their bodies and colored lines on their faces representing psychological torment. —Jeremy Fassler, Vulture, 11 Mar. 2024

Noun

The $125 million complex, which opens to the public on June 27, sits on the former site of Gadsden's Wharf, its pale oblong frame hovering on a series of pillars that appear to lift it off the sand. —Latria Graham, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 May 2023

Its leaves are large, flat, oblong and lime green in color. —Joshua Siskin, Orange County Register, 18 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English oblonge, oblong, borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French oblonge, borrowed from Latin oblongus "of greater length than breadth," from ob-, perhaps in sense "facing, against" + longus "having linear extent, long" — more at ob-, long entry 1

Noun

derivative of oblong entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1590, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

oblong

1 of 2 adjective

ob·​long

ˈäb-ˌlȯŋ

: longer in one direction than in the other

an oblong shoe box

an oblong watermelon

oblong

2 of 2 noun

: an oblong figure or object