as in tangent
a statement that is not connected in a logical or clear way to anything said before it
We were talking about the new restaurant when she threw in some non sequitur about her dog.
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Recent Examples of non sequitur
Every moment on Labor Days is meticulously considered, as Aesop Rock conjoins non sequiturs into a labyrinth of brilliant rhymes and run-ons.
—
Pitchfork, 30 Sep. 2025
Either way, a focus on central banks amid bad policy is a non sequitur precisely due to the fact that when economic policy is good, money in circulation is plentiful without regard to what central banks do.
—John Tamny, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2025
Long before Neeson would inherit the detective badge and a full clip of non sequiturs, Paramount announced Ed Helms would be taking on the Drebin role in 2013 with writers behind the Night at the Museum movies providing a script to revitalize the Naked Gun franchise.
—Chris Lee, Vulture, 4 Aug. 2025
This is a work in which the slapstick clowning and the tricky verbal non sequiturs should be merely the surface for roiling undercurrents of anguish, futility, despair and fear.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for non sequitur
Pitchfork, 30 Sep. 2025
Either way, a focus on central banks amid bad policy is a non sequitur precisely due to the fact that when economic policy is good, money in circulation is plentiful without regard to what central banks do.
—John Tamny, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2025
Long before Neeson would inherit the detective badge and a full clip of non sequiturs, Paramount announced Ed Helms would be taking on the Drebin role in 2013 with writers behind the Night at the Museum movies providing a script to revitalize the Naked Gun franchise.
—Chris Lee, Vulture, 4 Aug. 2025
This is a work in which the slapstick clowning and the tricky verbal non sequiturs should be merely the surface for roiling undercurrents of anguish, futility, despair and fear.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for non sequitur
Recent Examples of Synonyms for non sequitur
Noun
-
This tangent line is called the Lie algebra.—
Leila Sloman,
Quanta Magazine,
3 Dec. 2025
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While O’Farrell spends story real estate on imagining how the plague germs traveled the Mediterranean into Warwickshire and Zhao smartly cuts that tangent, maybe the biggest omission is one O’Farrell also doesn’t directly show in the novel either.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
30 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Crucially, the eggs were fittingly fluffy, none of that rubbery nonsense that plague lesser burrito slingers.—
Brock Keeling,
Oc Register,
6 Nov. 2025
-
All’s Fair is girlboss nonsense.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
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For families There are no rollaway beds; however, there are three interconnecting rooms with bunks.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
8 Jan. 2026
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The bunks are just that—bunks, not beds, with mattresses that let the road through.—
Alex Abramovich,
New Yorker,
26 Dec. 2025
Noun
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The short uses stylized 3D and deadpan timing to explore routine, irritation and faint absurdity.—
Callum McLennan,
Variety,
7 Nov. 2025
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Understanding the absurdity of one trillion anything makes the $38 trillion US national debt that economists have been blathering on about for years look almost sensible.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
6 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Non sequitur.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/non%20sequitur. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
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