as in aside
a departure from the subject under consideration
in the middle of her description of her dog's symptoms, she went off on a tangent about its cute behavior
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in tangential
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tangent
Margaret Lyons, EW.com, 17 Jan. 2025
On a different topic but related tangent, even lawyers have gotten caught off-guard by overly relying on AI to provide legal expertise when the AI was completely mistaken, see my analysis at the link here.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 31 Dec. 2024
Anatola Araba, ELLE, 1 Sep. 2022
An early tangent veers into naval warfare, with various forces fighting for crucial shipping lanes.
—Darren Franich, EW.com, 19 Aug. 2022
See All Example Sentences for tangent
Noun
Betty White's sweet, ever-cheery Rose — a role that snagged her an Emmy Award in 1986 — may not have all the zingers on The Golden Girls, but her rants and tangents draw priceless looks from her housemates and adoration from viewers.
—Margaret Lyons, EW.com, 17 Jan. 2025
On a different topic but related tangent, even lawyers have gotten caught off-guard by overly relying on AI to provide legal expertise when the AI was completely mistaken, see my analysis at the link here.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 31 Dec. 2024
Adjective
This imaginary friend guides him through the tangent universe, encourages him to commit a series of crimes, and ends up triggering a chain of supernatural events.
—Anatola Araba, ELLE, 1 Sep. 2022
An early tangent veers into naval warfare, with various forces fighting for crucial shipping lanes.
—Darren Franich, EW.com, 19 Aug. 2022
See All Example Sentences for tangent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tangent
Noun
-
Sometimes, his wisecracks and confessional asides come as a direct address.—
Lisa Kennedy,
The Denver Post,
7 Feb. 2025
-
Should the tale of a 600-year-old artist, with its technical asides on the art of the fresco, come before the tale of modern-day teenage angst?—
Adam Begley,
The Atlantic,
4 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
There are implications that the two central fathers of the piece have clashed before, though the more jarring examples of tangential threads concern a performing troupe with whom Tornado has a pre-existing relationship.—
Josh Slater-Williams,
IndieWire,
26 Feb. 2025
-
Is that a fair, if perhaps tangential, limning of this sinister quality that your poems sometimes have?—
Corey Seymour,
Vogue,
6 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Organizational and systems theories suggest that introducing an organizing entity into a competitive environment can minimize digression, maximize synergy, and optimize performance—provided common goals and shared values exist.—
Luis E. Romero,
Forbes,
23 Jan. 2025
-
To sustain that illusion, Corbet also sticks with a conventional, unquestioned naturalism, a straightforward narrative continuity that proceeds as if on tracks and allows for none of the seeming digressions and spontaneity that would make its characters feel real.—
Richard Brody,
The New Yorker,
3 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Later, the New York Post reported, she was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, a brain bleed, partial paralysis and loss of peripheral vision on her right side.—
Debra J. Saunders,
Orange County Register,
26 Feb. 2025
-
Waldock said the helicopter pilots, with their night vision goggles interfering with their peripheral vision, may have wrongly focused on a plane that took off just before the collision.—
Gary Fields,
Los Angeles Times,
15 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
A lot of character growth happens offscreen, and the romantic relationships feel arbitrary more than anything else — necessary on the page for marketing a TV show, but mostly incidental to what makes people want to watch this one in the first place.—
Proma Khosla,
IndieWire,
6 Mar. 2025
-
How these characters define themselves ethnically is incidental to the violent, high-stakes crime world they’re thrust into.—
Hershal Pandya,
Vulture,
6 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
The rationale is straightforward: like early-stage startups in the dot-com era, some of these assets may eventually prove valuable, whereas many others will likely become irrelevant.—
Christian Catalini,
Forbes,
7 Mar. 2025
-
What’s practical for one person may be irrelevant for another.—
Chris Gallagher,
USA TODAY,
6 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tangent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tangent. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share