tabular

IPA/ˈtæbjələ(r)/
IPA/ˈtæbjələr/

tabular — adjective

  • tabularpositive
  • more tabularcomparative
  • most tabularsuperlative

1. shown as a table, with facts or numbers arranged in a grid

1.adjectiveC1
Definition

shown as a table, with facts or numbers arranged in a grid

Example

The report includes a tabular summary of sales by region.

collocation: tabular summary

The website shows bus times in a tabular format on phones.

collocation: tabular format

Common collocations
  • tabular data
  • tabular form
  • tabular summary
  • tabular layout
  • tabular list
Synonyms
  • tabulated

    stresses that someone has already organized the material into a table

  • listed

    is broader and can be a simple one-column list rather than a full table

  • ordered

    suggests neat arrangement in general, not specifically rows and columns

Antonyms
  • narrative

    presents information in flowing sentences instead of a table

  • graphical

    shows information through pictures, lines, or charts instead of a table

Grammar Patterns

tabular data

tabular form

tabular summary

Usage Note

Usually appears before nouns such as data, summary, form, or list. It describes the layout of information, not the subject being discussed.

Common Mistakes

The teacher explained the chapter in a tabular.
The teacher explained the chapter in a table.
Tabular is an adjective, so it needs a noun such as form, summary, or layout.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

For adjective/1, tabular focuses on the shape of information on the page or screen: it is arranged in rows and columns. Tabulated is close, but it usually suggests that someone has already counted, sorted, or organized the material into a table. Listed is broader and may describe a simple vertical list with no row-and-column structure. Ordered only means arranged neatly or in sequence, so it does not tell you that the layout is a table. Use tabular when the format itself matters, as in tabular data, a tabular summary, or information shown in tabular form.

tabulated ↗listed ↗ordered ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • tabular data
  • tabular form
  • tabular summary
  • tabular layout

Phrases

  • in tabular form

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Tabular comes from Latin tabularis, based on tabula, meaning board or table. In English it came to describe information shown in a table, especially facts or numbers arranged in rows and columns.

First known use

1656

1656, in the meaning defined at sense 2