tubular

From Latin tubulus +‎ -ar.^[1][2] By surface analysis, tubule +‎ -ar. The sense meaning "cool" or "awesome" is believed to be a figurative extension originating in surfing lingo, from the way that an excellent wave encloses a surfer within tubular walls of water.

• enPR: tyo͞obyo͝olər, enPR: tyo͞obyələr
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtjuːbjʊlə/, /ˈt͡ʃuː-/, /-bjə-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈt(j)ubjələɹ/, /-bju-/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈtjʉːbjʊlə(ɹ)/, /ˈtjʉːbjələ(ɹ)/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: tu‧bul‧ar

tubular (comparative more tubular, superlative most tubular)

1. Shaped like a tube.

   tubular bell

   • 1950 March, H. A. Vallance, “On Foot Across the Forth Bridge”, in Railway Magazine, page 150:

     As we descended the long wooden stairway that leads from the central tower to the Island of Inchgarvie, the straight and simple outlines of the internal viaduct stood out in sharp contrast to the long sweep of the massive tubular arms of the cantilevers, and the complicated network of the lattice cross girders.

2. Relating to, or composed of, tubes or tubules.
3. (US, slang, dated) Cool, awesome.
   • 2007, Brian Laesch, The Verge of Psychosis: An Aspiring Actor's Journal:

     It was such a tubular party, Journal! But a few minutes later, I walked up to the Hermosa Beach Pier and left the girls with my things, thinking the totally bitchin' party would continue. But when I got back, they were all gone.

• cannular
• tubiform
• tuboid
• tuboidal

• tubularity
• tubularly

• cylindrical
• tubular assault
• tubular boiler
• tubular breathing
• tubular bridge
• tubular girder

• IPA^(key): (Central) [tu.βuˈlar]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [tu.buˈla]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [tu.buˈlaɾ]
• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)
• Hyphenation: tu‧bu‧lar

tubular m or f (masculine and feminine plural tubulars)

1. tubular (shaped like a tube)

• tub

• “tubular”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “tubular”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “tubular” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “tubular” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• IPA^(key): /tubuˈlaɾ/ [t̪u.β̞uˈlaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Hyphenation: tu‧bu‧lar

tubular m or f (plural tubulares)

1. tubular (shaped like a tube)

• tubo

tubular (not comparable)

1. tubular, tube-shaped

From túbulo (“tubule”) +‎ -ar.

• Rhymes: (Portugal, São Paulo) -aɾ, (most of Brazil) -aʁ, (Southern Brazil) -aɻ
• Hyphenation: tu‧bu‧lar

tubular m or f (plural tubulares)

1. tubular (shaped like a tube)

• tubo

• тубулар (tubular) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Borrowed from French tubulaire.

• IPA^(key): /tu.buˈlar/
• Rhymes: -ar
• Hyphenation: tu‧bular

tubular m or n (feminine singular tubulară, masculine plural tubulari, feminine and neuter plural tubulare)

1. tubular

• IPA^(key): /tubuˈlaɾ/ [t̪u.β̞uˈlaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: tu‧bu‧lar

tubular m or f (masculine and feminine plural tubulares)

1. tubular (shaped like a tube)

• “tubular”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024