as in tangent
a departure from the subject under consideration
the professor's frequent and extended digressions are the stuff of campus legend
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Recent Examples of digression
The author also varies the texture of the book by inserting poems, quotations, dramatic dialogue, a veiled account of her unhappy days at boarding school, and a lengthy digression on the German mystic Friederike Hauffe, who claimed to be clairvoyant and to communicate with spirits.
—
James Marcus, New Yorker, 2 June 2025
Whatever your feelings about Tarantino, give the Oscar winner this: His genre subversions and outrageous digressions are far livelier and more inspired than anything Ritchie concocts here.
—Will Leitch, Vulture, 27 May 2025
There are a handful of digressions in the category of local color, such as a francophone farmer who cooks haute cuisine and a bounty hunter nicknamed Preacher, who adorns his violent assaults with Bible verses.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 20 May 2025
To add to the information overload, there are flashbacks, self-aware references to classic whodunits, digressions into White House lore presumably mined from Kate Andersen Brower’s book The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House, which inspired the show.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 20 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for digression
James Marcus, New Yorker, 2 June 2025
Whatever your feelings about Tarantino, give the Oscar winner this: His genre subversions and outrageous digressions are far livelier and more inspired than anything Ritchie concocts here.
—Will Leitch, Vulture, 27 May 2025
There are a handful of digressions in the category of local color, such as a francophone farmer who cooks haute cuisine and a bounty hunter nicknamed Preacher, who adorns his violent assaults with Bible verses.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 20 May 2025
To add to the information overload, there are flashbacks, self-aware references to classic whodunits, digressions into White House lore presumably mined from Kate Andersen Brower’s book The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House, which inspired the show.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 20 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for digression
Recent Examples of Synonyms for digression
tangent
Noun
-
Season 2 is no different, focusing on plane crashes and pilot communication, which sounds serious, but like the first season, Fielder takes many interesting tangents along the way.—
Los Angeles Times Staff,
Los Angeles Times,
3 July 2025
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Avoid tangents, overly complex presentations or cluttered visuals that overwhelm participants.—
Jason Richmond,
Forbes.com,
17 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Digression.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/digression. Accessed 15 Jul. 2025.
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