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
Relevance
as in tangential
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tangent
Ali Breland, The Atlantic, 15 May 2025
Moses’s book eddies around with the energy of someone reporting back from a very long and strange evening clicking through Wikipedia links, enjoying every chance to add a tangent.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 28 Apr. 2025
Anatola Araba, ELLE, 1 Sep. 2022
An early tangent veers into naval warfare, with various forces fighting for crucial shipping lanes.
—Darren Franich, EW.com, 19 Aug. 2022
See All Example Sentences for tangent
Noun
By yesterday afternoon, Grok had stopped talking about white genocide, and most of the posts that included the tangent had been deleted.
—Ali Breland, The Atlantic, 15 May 2025
Moses’s book eddies around with the energy of someone reporting back from a very long and strange evening clicking through Wikipedia links, enjoying every chance to add a tangent.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 28 Apr. 2025
Adjective
This imaginary friend guides him through the tangent universe, encourages him to commit a series of crimes, and ends up triggering a chain of supernatural events.
—Anatola Araba, ELLE, 1 Sep. 2022
An early tangent veers into naval warfare, with various forces fighting for crucial shipping lanes.
—Darren Franich, EW.com, 19 Aug. 2022
See All Example Sentences for tangent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tangent
Noun
-
Mentioned almost as an aside during jury selection last week, the subject of the suddenly unreachable Victim-3, came up on May 9 in what was supposed to be near formality of a hearing.—
Dominic Patten,
Deadline,
11 May 2025
-
These asides prevent The Last of Us from delving into Ellie’s larger emotional journey of having to rediscover her humanity while she’s overwhelmed by her grief.—
Shirley Li,
The Atlantic,
21 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
At times, Pinho includes dry scenes where tangential characters address the camera with historical facts.—
Murtada Elfadl,
Variety,
28 May 2025
-
Baby Billy’s success or failure is tangential to the Gemstones at large, so the writing (and Goggins’s performance) can be as liberated as Billy’s ball sack.—
Scott Tobias,
Vulture,
28 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Whatever your feelings about Tarantino, give the Oscar winner this: His genre subversions and outrageous digressions are far livelier and more inspired than anything Ritchie concocts here.—
Will Leitch,
Vulture,
27 May 2025
-
There are a handful of digressions in the category of local color, such as a francophone farmer who cooks haute cuisine and a bounty hunter nicknamed Preacher, who adorns his violent assaults with Bible verses.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
20 May 2025
Adjective
-
This is when atherosclerosis develops in the arteries of the arms and legs, called the peripheral arteries.—
MD Published,
Verywell Health,
5 June 2025
-
The film world premiered in the non-competitive Cannes Premiere section, but clinched a peripheral prize with its canine cast member, sheepdog Panda, beating 24 other candidates to win the Palm Dog.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
4 June 2025
Adjective
-
Brennan Johnson scored the lone goal in the 42nd minute after an incidental deflection off Manchester United’s Luke Shaw, sending Spurs to next season’s Champions League.—
Marcus D. Smith,
Sacbee.com,
23 May 2025
-
What’s more, if a shopper isn’t actually visiting a brand or retailer’s site when an AI agent makes a purchase on their behalf, the retailer may lose some incidental sales a human would consider.—
Meghan Hall,
Sourcing Journal,
20 May 2025
Adjective
-
Executives Chris Van Gorder, Scripps Health YES: The decision was made to add parking meters at Balboa Park; starting six months earlier is irrelevant.—
Phillip Molnar,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
30 May 2025
-
If investors are now satisfied, the underlying legal structure is irrelevant.—
Matteo Wong,
The Atlantic,
30 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tangent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tangent. Accessed 14 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share