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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of discursive
The instructional promise of each episode was a bit, a starting point for discursive, funny, intermittently personal mini-essays that always started in Wilson’s beloved New York, but could and did make their way anywhere.
—
Alison Willmore, Vulture, 23 Jan. 2026
Knowledge itself can be both logical and discursive.
—Bruce Schneier, IEEE Spectrum, 21 Jan. 2026
His palette is light, smudgy guitar textures and warm synths; his message, more gestural than discursive, is love and lust.
—Pitchfork, 4 Dec. 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
See All Example Sentences for discursive
Alison Willmore, Vulture, 23 Jan. 2026
Knowledge itself can be both logical and discursive.
—Bruce Schneier, IEEE Spectrum, 21 Jan. 2026
His palette is light, smudgy guitar textures and warm synths; his message, more gestural than discursive, is love and lust.
—Pitchfork, 4 Dec. 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
See All Example Sentences for discursive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for discursive
Adjective
-
Spinella shucks off sentimentality, always showing us Con’s offhand humor and sometimes nervous, defensive rambling.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
3 June 2026
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Carnivores shouldn’t miss out on Peter upstairs—a rambling dining venue perched on the 24th floor, high above the rooms, that looks like a glitzy Vegas club complete with purple accents and ethereal, Avatar-esque light sculptures.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
2 June 2026
Adjective
-
Cocktail Magic includes bars with different themes and wandering magicians.—
Lydia Mansel,
Travel + Leisure,
23 May 2026
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Released in 2022, this otherworldly timepiece puts a contemporary spin on the wandering hours complication that AP debuted within the original Starwheel (Ref.—
Rachel Cormack,
Robb Report,
16 May 2026
Adjective
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But certain connections to the state—if indirect ones, through its banks—were inevitable.—
Bozorgmehr Sharafedin,
The Atlantic,
1 June 2026
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In return for the pricing concessions, Glencore immediately withdrew layoff notices, safeguarding more than 1,500 positions and thousands of other indirect jobs across the platinum belt.—
Tiisetso Motsoeneng,
semafor.com,
1 June 2026
Adjective
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In return for her weird, digressive, and highly mannered manuscript, Lemann received a kill fee.—
Brandy Jensen,
New Yorker,
8 Apr. 2026
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Like all Kashian’s work, Alter-Kashian is densely packed, and her breakneck, digressive style doesn’t leave much room to come up for air.—
Hershal Pandya,
Vulture,
30 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Discursive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/discursive. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
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