Tubular

How to spell tubular

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce tubular

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does tubular mean?

1. adjectiveHaving the form of a tube; long, hollow, and cylindrical.
2. adjectiveInformal slang, originally from surfing culture, meaning excellent or impressive.

Tubular in a sentence

• The scaffolding was built from lightweight tubular steel.

• The skaters called the new ramp totally tubular after their first run.

• The plant produces small tubular flowers that taper at the end.

• He described the concert as tubular for weeks afterward.

Where does tubular come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin tubus, which simply meant a 'pipe' or 'hollow cylinder', the same root that gives us the everyday word 'tube'. To that root was added a diminutive element and the adjective ending -aris, meaning 'relating to', producing the sense 'shaped like or relating to a tube'. English assembled and adopted tubular in the early eighteenth century, largely through scientific and anatomical writing where precise descriptions of hollow, pipe-like structures were needed. The spelling trap lives in the middle: the unstressed -ul- often blurs in speech, so writers must remember the single l and the -ar ending rather than -er. In the late twentieth century surfers and Californian slang stretched the word to mean 'excellent', a playful extension from the prized tube-shaped curl of a breaking wave.

How the word is built

• tub- (from Latin tubus: pipe, tube)
• -ul- (diminutive)
• -ar (adjective suffix, 'pertaining to')