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
His palette is light, smudgy guitar textures and warm synths; his message, more gestural than discursive, is love and lust.
—
Pitchfork, 4 Dec. 2025
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
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
Pitchfork, 4 Dec. 2025
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
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
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Shinjuku Gyoen is a rambling blend of European and Japanese formal gardens that becomes a focal point of the cherry blossom season in late March.—
Stephen Kelly,
TheWeek,
26 Mar. 2026
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The four leads are overconfident and loutish, spending their time drinking, rambling, and clumsily working through their worries about the future.—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The adventurous rapper and producer take a more refined approach on a collaborative album full of wandering thoughts and odd, understated beats.—
Stephen Kearse,
Pitchfork,
24 Mar. 2026
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Another bill would require the Maryland Department of Health to create a webpage of resources for caregivers of individuals — due to age, disability, chronic illness or other functional limitations — including guidance on safety planning for wandering and elopement.—
Danielle J. Brown,
Baltimore Sun,
22 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Essentially, if a natural gas pipeline is being approved, the process doesn’t need to consider the indirect effects of burning the gas at a power plant.—
Jordan Blum,
Fortune,
30 Mar. 2026
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The Indonesian foreign ministry said today that the peacekeeper who was killed was an Indonesian national and that three others were injured by indirect artillery fire, Reuters reported.—
Charlene Gubash,
NBC news,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Fleming’s work is a hyperspecific, manic, digressive observational comedy buried inside a cloud of performance-art strangeness.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
26 Feb. 2026
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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 1 Apr. 2026.
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