as in tangent
a statement that is not connected in a logical or clear way to anything said before it
We were talking about the new restaurant when she threw in some non sequitur about her dog.
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Recent Examples of non sequitur
Tracy’s dialogue, though absent the staccato non sequiturs of the director’s earlier work, has a bracing nastiness; every visual flourish and every menacing thrum of the score, by Jerskin Fendrix, escalates the intensity of Stone and Plemons’s bravura showdown.
—
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025
Every moment on Labor Days is meticulously considered, as Aesop Rock conjoins non sequiturs into a labyrinth of brilliant rhymes and run-ons.
—Pitchfork, 30 Sep. 2025
Either way, a focus on central banks amid bad policy is a non sequitur precisely due to the fact that when economic policy is good, money in circulation is plentiful without regard to what central banks do.
—John Tamny, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2025
Long before Neeson would inherit the detective badge and a full clip of non sequiturs, Paramount announced Ed Helms would be taking on the Drebin role in 2013 with writers behind the Night at the Museum movies providing a script to revitalize the Naked Gun franchise.
—Chris Lee, Vulture, 4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for non sequitur
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025
Every moment on Labor Days is meticulously considered, as Aesop Rock conjoins non sequiturs into a labyrinth of brilliant rhymes and run-ons.
—Pitchfork, 30 Sep. 2025
Either way, a focus on central banks amid bad policy is a non sequitur precisely due to the fact that when economic policy is good, money in circulation is plentiful without regard to what central banks do.
—John Tamny, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2025
Long before Neeson would inherit the detective badge and a full clip of non sequiturs, Paramount announced Ed Helms would be taking on the Drebin role in 2013 with writers behind the Night at the Museum movies providing a script to revitalize the Naked Gun franchise.
—Chris Lee, Vulture, 4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for non sequitur
Recent Examples of Synonyms for non sequitur
Noun
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The Story Behind Gomez’s AirDrop Name In one of the episode’s more amusing tangents, Gomez shared the story behind her iPhone’s AirDrop name.—
Ryan Brennan,
Miami Herald,
5 Mar. 2026
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At this point, the joke veers into tangents.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
26 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The whole tariff nonsense, the tariffs that were struck down by the Supreme Court, those tariffs rested on false claims by the president of the United States about economic emergency.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
4 Mar. 2026
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And don’t give me the lacking pass protection nonsense.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
2 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Full bunks The new staffing plan comes amid ongoing overcrowding at the downtown jail.—
Monroe Trombly,
Louisville Courier Journal,
6 Mar. 2026
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Jay King wrote a strong column this morning calling the entire narrative bunk.—
Chris Branch,
New York Times,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The latest addition to the genre, AMC’s The Audacity, captures all the absurdities, egos, and jargon of the tech scene as deftly as its predecessors.—
Alexei Oreskovic,
Fortune,
6 Mar. 2026
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In typical 30 Rock fashion, the bit reaches the height of absurdity when someone informs Arthur that some of the tennis balls are meant to be actual tennis balls in the scene.—
Eliana Dockterman,
Time,
5 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Non sequitur.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/non%20sequitur. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
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