: deviating from a square, circular, or spherical form by elongation in one dimension
an oblong piece of paper
an oblong melon
see leaf illustration
: 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
The New Yorker
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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
Jake Sheridan, Chicago Tribune, 15 Apr. 2026 The Pixel series features Google’s Camera Bar, an oblong camera bump that runs horizontally across the back panel. —Iyaz Akhtar, PC Magazine, 7 Apr. 2026
Louisa Kung Liu Chu, Chicago Tribune, 24 Mar. 2026 Burton's oblong pool, tiled in blue, remains intact. —Lauren Mowery, Forbes.com, 24 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for oblong
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Adjective
During the 2022 City Council remap process, Villegas was chair of the Latino Caucus had saw his ward redrawn into an oblong 8-mile noodle after losing a fight with the Black Caucus over how many majority Latino and Black seats the body should see. —Jake Sheridan, Chicago Tribune, 15 Apr. 2026 The Pixel series features Google’s Camera Bar, an oblong camera bump that runs horizontally across the back panel. —Iyaz Akhtar, PC Magazine, 7 Apr. 2026
Noun
Circular instead of oblong or rectangular, it is indeed cut into squares. —Louisa Kung Liu Chu, Chicago Tribune, 24 Mar. 2026 Burton's oblong pool, tiled in blue, remains intact. —Lauren Mowery, Forbes.com, 24 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for oblong
Cite this Entry
“Oblong.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.grautoblog.com/dictionary/oblong. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.
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