as in aside
a departure from the subject under consideration
in the middle of her description of her dog's symptoms, she went off on a tangent about its cute behavior
Synonyms & Similar Words
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as in tangential
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of tangent
Darren Franich, EW.com, 19 Aug. 2022
Austin’s former president then went on a tangent talking about Reese’s eggs, Cap’n Crunch and berries.
—Frank Pallotta, CNN, 17 Apr. 2022
Brett Samuels, The Hill, 22 July 2025
Information, as a result, becomes abstracted into tangents.
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 18 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for tangent
Noun
An early tangent veers into naval warfare, with various forces fighting for crucial shipping lanes.
—Darren Franich, EW.com, 19 Aug. 2022
Austin’s former president then went on a tangent talking about Reese’s eggs, Cap’n Crunch and berries.
—Frank Pallotta, CNN, 17 Apr. 2022
Adjective
Trump then went on an extended tangent about the 2016 election and his claims that there was wrongdoing by Obama White House officials.
—Brett Samuels, The Hill, 22 July 2025
Information, as a result, becomes abstracted into tangents.
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 18 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for tangent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tangent
Noun
-
In an aside, which also showcased Canonero’s work, the conversation also played an extract from Barry Lyndon in which Lyndon (Ryan O’Neal) blows smoke in the face of his new wife Lady Honoria Lyndon (Marisa Beronson), revealing how Coppola had later referenced the scene in Priscilla.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
29 Aug. 2025
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Mother Mary Comes to Me mostly proceeds in a straight line through Roy’s life, but the author can’t resist editorializing or indulging in frequent asides, pausing the action to tell the reader how something will unfold.—
Madeline Leung Coleman,
Vulture,
27 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
The Los Angeles experience consists mostly of such tangential connections and brief grazes of luxury.—
Joe Joyce,
The Washington Examiner,
5 Sep. 2025
-
That may be why the Media Matters fight, which seems like just another front with a tangential player in the FTC's bigger battle, may end up mattering the most.—
Ashley Belanger,
ArsTechnica,
22 Aug. 2025
Noun
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His essays — an array of digressions on meme culture, monetary theory and markets — remain widely read in crypto circles.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
21 Aug. 2025
-
This Pearl Jam/jizz/peyote digression occurs after an opening Nineties trivia question about grunge frontmen.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
20 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Despite iffy peripheral stats, the bullpen has been better since the trade deadline.—
Cody Stavenhagen,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
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While an opioid would’ve been an easy choice, a doctor performed a nerve block instead, numbing the peripheral areas of pain rather than sedating the brain.—
Dr. Sanjay Gupta,
CNN Money,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Angel Reese was assessed her 8th technical foul of the season after incidental contact with Aaliyah Edwards on this play.—
Michael Gallagher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Sep. 2025
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But by the end, in its rush, the movie still hasn’t quite come up with a point of view on whether McCartney really got over his bust-up with Lennon with a little help from his Wings friends, or whether forming a band was ultimately incidental to overcoming any lingering separation anxiety.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Leading up to kickoff of Belichick’s debut at Chapel Hill, college football, this community and certainly the TV networks were thrilled with the prospect of this grouchy old man turning an irrelevant football team into something worth watching.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
2 Sep. 2025
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Natural gas fulfills much of this need, while coal is dirtier, expensive, and increasingly irrelevant for electricity production.—
Ken Silverstein,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tangent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tangent. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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