as in rambling
passing from one topic to another
the speaker's discursive style made it difficult to understand his point
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Recent Examples of discursive
For all the revelry, there was a tough, discursive seriousness in the approach that Lang and O’Hara took to their labors in the late forties and early fifties.
—
Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
Kate Zambreno’s Animal Stories, the newest installment in the publisher’s Undelivered Lectures series, relates Nabokov’s anecdote as part of a searching, charmingly discursive meditation on zoos.
—Book Marks
august 28, Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2025
The story of Jussie Smollett had the effect of sucking one individual into a near-perfect storm of discursive tripwires.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 20 Aug. 2025
American leaders and commentators often portrayed international adversaries in unflattering and discursive brushstrokes.
—Time, 8 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for discursive
Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
Kate Zambreno’s Animal Stories, the newest installment in the publisher’s Undelivered Lectures series, relates Nabokov’s anecdote as part of a searching, charmingly discursive meditation on zoos.
—Book Marks
august 28, Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2025
The story of Jussie Smollett had the effect of sucking one individual into a near-perfect storm of discursive tripwires.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 20 Aug. 2025
American leaders and commentators often portrayed international adversaries in unflattering and discursive brushstrokes.
—Time, 8 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for discursive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for discursive
Adjective
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Routh then read from a rambling, 20-page statement.—
David Fischer,
Sun Sentinel,
4 Feb. 2026
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Also in the village, with lower prices, the June Lake Villager Motel is a rambling property beneath a vintage mid-century sign.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Because in realignment, where emotions are high and every president has a wandering eye, heft matters.—
Jon Wilner,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Feb. 2026
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Like a lot of messy divorces, this started with a wandering eye, a lover scorned and boils down to the money.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
21 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The latest threat was made one day after the United States and Iran concluded their first two rounds of indirect nuclear talks in Oman.—
David Zimmermann,
The Washington Examiner,
8 Feb. 2026
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Winemaker Kristina Shideler explains that most of these vineyards sit within the inversion layer—meaning they are covered with fog in the early part of the day—which offer a cooling effect and indirect sunlight into mid-day.—
Mike DeSimone,
Robb Report,
8 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The Friend’s House Is Here, with its relaxed pace and digressive sequences of late-night dinner parties, feels like a minor Godard hangout movie.—
Taylor Antrim,
Vogue,
30 Jan. 2026
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The result is digressive, elliptical, and occasionally absurd—and yet also genuinely revealing of the mental-health challenges facing pilots and the sometimes brutal social dynamics of the cockpit.—
Inkoo Kang,
New Yorker,
8 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Discursive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/discursive. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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