as in rambling
passing from one topic to another
a digressive lecture on current events around the world
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Recent Examples of digressive
The Friend’s House Is Here, with its relaxed pace and digressive sequences of late-night dinner parties, feels like a minor Godard hangout movie.
—
Taylor Antrim, Vogue, 30 Jan. 2026
This is slightly digressive, but Tunde and his lover, early on in the novel, have this big argument in Lahaina, in Hawaii.
—Literary Hub, 3 Nov. 2025
The path to achieving this goal was already a digressive one, weaving together singing competitions, cloned dogs and a bald-capped Fielder breastfeeding from a giant puppet.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 26 May 2025
The tabloid reader commuting home on the No. 4 train was given the same all-access pass to his protean intellect and lyrical, digressive sentences as the Park Avenue neighbor of William F. Buckley’s reading him, fireside, in the more rarefied outlets.
—Ginia Bellafante, New York Times, 16 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for digressive
Taylor Antrim, Vogue, 30 Jan. 2026
This is slightly digressive, but Tunde and his lover, early on in the novel, have this big argument in Lahaina, in Hawaii.
—Literary Hub, 3 Nov. 2025
The path to achieving this goal was already a digressive one, weaving together singing competitions, cloned dogs and a bald-capped Fielder breastfeeding from a giant puppet.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 26 May 2025
The tabloid reader commuting home on the No. 4 train was given the same all-access pass to his protean intellect and lyrical, digressive sentences as the Park Avenue neighbor of William F. Buckley’s reading him, fireside, in the more rarefied outlets.
—Ginia Bellafante, New York Times, 16 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for digressive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for digressive
Adjective
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Blackened with volcanic rock and encircled by towering waves, the tumultuous scenery makes a vivid psychic landscape for So Help Me God, a rambling spell of ’70s-era soul and exuberant orchestral folk-pop that sweeps through the fog of heartbreak and the clarity of self-discovery.—
Kiana Mickles,
Pitchfork,
15 June 2026
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Lady Banks’ rose (Rosa banksiae) is a large, rambling rose that can quickly grow up to 20 feet long.—
Daniel Scott,
Better Homes & Gardens,
10 June 2026
Adjective
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But by the boulder the real action was social and discursive.—
Anna Wiener,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
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The temporary and discursive structure allowed global visibility without institutional permanence.—
Daniel Birnbaum,
Artforum,
2 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Digressive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/digressive. Accessed 22 Jun. 2026.
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