as in irrelevant
having little to do with the matter at hand
Your point is tangential to the main objective of this meeting so please save it for later.
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of tangential
Medical professionals document whether patients' thoughts are logical and linear or tangential and meandering.
—
Natalie Eilbert, Journal Sentinel, 19 Dec. 2024
Even if an idea feels tangential or trivial, consider it.
—Jerry Weissman, Forbes, 22 Nov. 2024
His meandering public speeches have, in recent months, grown longer, more tangential, and darker in tone.
—Tribune News Service, Sun Sentinel, 23 Oct. 2024
The arrest of an erstwhile right-wing dictator dramatically narrows the options for Venezuela’s supposedly socialist revolutionaries, underlining, once more, how tangential ideology is to understanding the crisis.
—Moisés Naím, Foreign Affairs, 27 Jan. 2020
See All Example Sentences for tangential
Natalie Eilbert, Journal Sentinel, 19 Dec. 2024
Even if an idea feels tangential or trivial, consider it.
—Jerry Weissman, Forbes, 22 Nov. 2024
His meandering public speeches have, in recent months, grown longer, more tangential, and darker in tone.
—Tribune News Service, Sun Sentinel, 23 Oct. 2024
The arrest of an erstwhile right-wing dictator dramatically narrows the options for Venezuela’s supposedly socialist revolutionaries, underlining, once more, how tangential ideology is to understanding the crisis.
—Moisés Naím, Foreign Affairs, 27 Jan. 2020
See All Example Sentences for tangential
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tangential
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
Adjective
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The slope, or steepness, of the tangent line measures how quickly the function is changing at that point.—
Solomon Adams,
WIRED,
23 Feb. 2025
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By 1643, René Descartes had discovered a simple relationship between the curvatures of any four circles that are tangent to each other.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
10 Aug. 2023
Adjective
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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
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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
Cite this Entry
“Tangential.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tangential. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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