digression

di·gres·sion

noun \-ˈgre-shən\

Definition of DIGRESSION

1

: the act or an instance of digressing in a discourse or other usually organized literary work

2

archaic : a going aside

— di·gres·sion·al \-ˈgresh-nəl, -ə-n^əl\ adjective

— di·gres·sion·ary \-ˈgre-shə-ˌner-ē\ adjective

Examples of DIGRESSION

1. <the professor's frequent and extended digressions are the stuff of campus legend>

First Known Use of DIGRESSION

14th century

Related to DIGRESSION

Synonyms: aside, tangent, divagation, excursion

Related Words: excursus, parenthesis; rambling; circuitousness, circularity, circumlocution, diffuseness, prolixity, verbosity, windiness, wordiness

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Other Literature Terms

apophasis, bathos, bildungsroman, bowdlerize, caesura, coda, doggerel, euphemism, poesy, prosody

Rhymes with DIGRESSION

accession, aggression, bull session, compression, concession, confession, depression, discretion, egression, expression, impression, ingression, jam session, obsession, oppression, precession, procession, profession, progression, recession, refreshen, regression, repression, secession, skull session, succession, suppression, transgression