A new concept of three-dimensional (3D) shape measurement of specular objects by ellipsometry is proposed. When a glossy object is illuminated by circularly polarized light or unpolarized light, the slope and azimuthal angles of the surface normal vector can be derived by determining the parameters of the reflected polarization states. The 3D shape can be reconstructed using the normal vector of the reflection surface. The method of reading out the surface slope angle and azimuth information by ellipsometry is called tilt-ellipsometry. The tilt is detected using precise optical elements and industrial components. High-speed polarization imaging by a phase modulation method with a liquid crystal variable retarder is also demonstrated. The practical applicability of our method for various research and manufacturing fields is experimentally shown.