circular

Syllables: cir·cu·larUK/ˈsɜː.kjə.lə//ˈsɜɹ.kjə.ləɹ/

circular adjective: of or relating to a circle. Also the ellipsis of circular letter.

Adjective

circular (comparative more circular, superlative most circular)

Of or relating to a circle.
In the shape of, or moving in, a circle.
- Near-synonyms: oval; round; toroid, ringlike, round-like
- Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen...1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC
Synonyms:

annular, ring-shaped, O-shaped, oval, round, toroid, ringlike, round-like
Circuitous or roundabout.
Referring back to itself, so as to prevent computation or comprehension; infinitely recursive.
- circular reasoning
- Your dictionary defines "brave" as "courageous", and "courageous" as "brave". That's a circular definition.
Distributed to a large number of persons.
- a proclamation of Henry III., […] doubtless circular throughout England1827, Henry Hallam, The Constitutional History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to the Death of George II. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], →OCLC
(obsolete) Perfect; complete.
- A man so absolute and circular / In all those wished-for rarities that may take / A virgin captive.1632, Philip Massinger, Maid of Honour, act I, scene 2
(archaic) Adhering to a fixed circle of legends; cyclic; hence, mean; inferior.
- February 1, 1711, John Dennis, on the Genius and Writings of Shakespeare
  Had Virgil been a circular poet, and closely adhered to history, how could the Romans have had Dido?

Noun

circular (plural circulars)

An advertisement, directive or notice intended for mass circulation.
- Near-synonym: flyer (advertisement)
- The pigeon-hole was also stuffed with circulars and hand-bills.1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 2, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 40
Synonyms:

flyer
(dated) A sleeveless cloak cut from a circular pattern.
A shuttle bus with a circular route.

Verb

circular (third-person singular simple present circulars, present participle circularing, simple past and past participle circulared)

To distribute circulars to or at.
- The result of the sending of these notices confirms me in the opinion, that it will be necessary to adopt legal means with the great majority of these parties. The circulars have had little effect. In fact, the parties have been “circulared" into the notion that nothing more formidable will ever be...1851, G. W. Muir, Report on the State of Engine and Other Furnaces, page 19
- It is true, that, to obtain these, some six hundred or more institutions were circulared, and a good many of these a second time.1873, Old and new - Volume 8, page 101
To extend in a circular direction.
- The theme can be expressed in an architectural analogy. For, of all contriving to encover space, the arch — alone or 'circulared' into the dome — is the most ingenious.2008, Donald E. Wagner, Kenneth Cragg, Dying in the Land of Promise, page 116

Also used as

circular is also the ellipsis of circular letter.

circular is also the ellipsis of circular file.

circular meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Punjabi

circular in Hindi

of or relating to a circle: वलयाकार valyākār, गोलाकार golākār
in the shape of, or moving in a circle: वृत्तीय vŕttīya, वर्तुल vartul, गोल gol, वृत्ताकार vŕttākār
advertisement, directive or notice intended for mass circulation: विज्ञप्ति vijñapti

circular in Urdu

advertisement, directive or notice intended for mass circulation: گَشْتی gaśtī

circular in Bengali

of or relating to a circle: বৃত্তাকার brittakar, গোলাকার gōlakar

circular in Punjabi

ਸਰਕੂਲਰ, ਸਰਕੁਲਰ

More languagesFewer languages

circular in Sanskrit: मण्डल maṇḍala
circular in Pashto: ګرد gërd
circular in Arabic: دَائِرِيّ dāʔiriyy
circular in Indonesian: bundar
circular in Persian: دایره
circular in Myanmar: ဝိုင်း wuing:

Examples of circular in a sentence

a circular formula in a spreadsheet
It must be conceded that this definition (the definition of tort) is somewhat circular, but it is the only one that will suffice.2019, Paulia Giliker, chapter 1, in Tort, Eighth edition, Thompson Reuters, →ISBN, What is tort? (section 1-002), page 2:
In fact, the parties have been “circulared" into the notion that nothing more formidable will ever be sent to them.1851, G. W. Muir, Report on the State of Engine and Other Furnaces, page 19:
I do not mean to say we have never employed some of them who come to us—but we have never circulared agents or gone after them.1909, American Life Convention, Report of the Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Life Convention, page 42:
If you've ever been circulared by drug repackaging houses, you know they usually offer to trade a selection of office supplies for your unused drug samples.1962, Harrie Sheridan Baketel, Medical Economics - Volume 39, page 141:

All 40 example sentences with circular

Synonyms of circular

2 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of circular

Forms of circular

Adjective
comparative	more circular
superlative	most circular
Noun
plural	circulars
Verb
third-person singular present	circulars
present participle	circularing
past participle	circulared
past	circulared

Origin of circular

From Middle English circuler, circuleer, circulere, from Old French circulier (French circulaire), from Late Latin circularis, from Latin circulus, diminutive of circus (“ring”). By surface analysis, circle + -ar.

Words formed from circular

Questions about circular

What does circular mean?: Circular means of or relating to a circle.
What is circular in Hindi?: Circular in Hindi is वलयाकार (valyākār), गोलाकार (golākār), वृत्तीय (vŕttīya). See Circular meaning in Hindi.
How do you use circular in a sentence?: a circular formula in a spreadsheet
What part of speech is circular?: Circular can be an adjective, a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce circular?: Circular is pronounced /ˈsɜː.kjə.lə/ (UK).

Words near circular in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: circular (page history and authors); circular (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-circular.ogg.

Cite this entry: “circular.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/circular. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.