as in rambling
passing from one topic to another
the speaker's discursive style made it difficult to understand his point
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Recent Examples of discursive
For all the revelry, there was a tough, discursive seriousness in the approach that Lang and O’Hara took to their labors in the late forties and early fifties.
—
Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
Kate Zambreno’s Animal Stories, the newest installment in the publisher’s Undelivered Lectures series, relates Nabokov’s anecdote as part of a searching, charmingly discursive meditation on zoos.
—Book Marks
august 28, Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2025
The story of Jussie Smollett had the effect of sucking one individual into a near-perfect storm of discursive tripwires.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 20 Aug. 2025
American leaders and commentators often portrayed international adversaries in unflattering and discursive brushstrokes.
—Time, 8 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for discursive
Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
Kate Zambreno’s Animal Stories, the newest installment in the publisher’s Undelivered Lectures series, relates Nabokov’s anecdote as part of a searching, charmingly discursive meditation on zoos.
—Book Marks
august 28, Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2025
The story of Jussie Smollett had the effect of sucking one individual into a near-perfect storm of discursive tripwires.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 20 Aug. 2025
American leaders and commentators often portrayed international adversaries in unflattering and discursive brushstrokes.
—Time, 8 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for discursive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for discursive
Adjective
-
Her conversation was rambling and fascinating.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Mar. 2026
-
This film, so seemingly unassertive, apparently rambling and plotless, has a devastating impact and aftershock.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
This full-sun outdoor container stars a wandering dude vine with bold purple, green, and silver foliage.—
Johanna Silver,
Better Homes & Gardens,
4 Mar. 2026
-
In the Texas Hill Country following the Civil War, 14-year-old Travis is left in charge of the family ranch when his father goes on a long cattle drive and soon forges a reluctant bond with a wandering yellow dog.—
Libby Monteith Minor,
Southern Living,
28 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Scientists had previously seen indirect signs that sunlight can spin small asteroids faster and fling material into space, but the UMD team’s models now provide the first direct visual proof.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
8 Mar. 2026
-
And through direct conversations or indirect, through him one-to-one or through his cabinet, messages-- definitely can be delivered.—
Major Garrett,
CBS News,
8 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Fleming’s work is a hyperspecific, manic, digressive observational comedy buried inside a cloud of performance-art strangeness.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
26 Feb. 2026
-
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
Cite this Entry
“Discursive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/discursive. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
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