spherical

/ˈsfɪr.ɪ.kəl/

adjective

  1. Shaped like a sphere; round like a ball, with every point on the surface the same distance from the centre.

    B2

    usually before a noun or after a linking verb

    • "The Earth is not perfectly spherical; it is slightly flattened at the poles."B2
    • "She dropped a small spherical object into the water, and it sank quickly."B1
    • "The lamp had a large spherical glass shade."C1

  2. Relating to a sphere or to spheres, especially in geometry or astronomy.

    C1

    usually before a nountechnical

    • "The students used spherical geometry to calculate the shortest flight path between the two cities."C1
    • "Spherical geometry deals with shapes drawn on the surface of a sphere."C1

Common mistakes

  • The earth is spheric.→The Earth is spherical.

    The adjective is "spherical"; "spheric" is rare and not used in everyday English.

  • a sphere shape ball→a spherical ball

    Use the adjective "spherical" instead of "sphere shape" to describe something shaped like a sphere.

Collocations

spherical shapespherical objectspherical coordinatesspherical symmetryperfectly sphericalspherical geometryspherical aberrationspherical harmonics

Word family

spheresphericallysphericityhemispherespheroidhemispherical