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
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of tangent
ABC News, 17 Mar. 2026
That’s an important tangent of the Hill-Turner conversation after no movement there during free agency.
—Paul Dehner Jr, New York Times, 16 Mar. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for tangent
Noun
The original investigation spawned two main tangents involving Becciu, once a leading Vatican cardinal and future papal contender.
—ABC News, 17 Mar. 2026
That’s an important tangent of the Hill-Turner conversation after no movement there during free agency.
—Paul Dehner Jr, New York Times, 16 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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
See All Example Sentences for tangent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tangent
Noun
-
Medium compression smooths the waist, hips, and thighs, while a pull-aside gusset simplifies bathroom breaks.—
Malia Griggs,
Glamour,
4 June 2026
-
For all its eye-popping song-and-dance numbers and amusing asides, the show seems to forget that the novel is a tragedy.—
Ross Raihala,
Twin Cities,
3 June 2026
Adjective
-
Kidd’s relationship to the trade, even if tangential, became a defining point in his tenure as the Mavericks’ head coach.—
Mac Engel
May 20,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
20 May 2026
-
Instead of solving the full optimization problem in a brute-force way, TFC allows key physical constraints (like leaving Earth in a tangential burn) to be built directly into the mathematical formulation.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
17 May 2026
Noun
-
The novel is made of math equations, lengthy jokes, digressions in Yiddish, and a whole lot of language play.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
2 June 2026
-
Obviously, the users can also opt for surfing’s rapid digressions due to the overwhelming and disorienting number of choices that they are confronted with when accessing a hypertext.—
Carmen Daniela Maier,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
26 May 2026
Adjective
-
Plenty of peripheral details also informed their research, including various forms of etiquette.—
Barry Levitt,
Time,
29 May 2026
-
Recognition of a partner’s inner qualities, in other words, was not a peripheral feature of relationship quality.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
24 May 2026
Adjective
-
American Express relies on airlines to submit the correct information on airline transactions to identify incidental fee purchases.—
Jason Stauffer,
CNBC,
2 June 2026
-
Stops in Denver and Columbus are not incidental.—
Clemente Lisi,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026
Adjective
-
Chase is irrelevant and swinging at the right pitch is irrelevant.—
Sahadev Sharma,
New York Times,
1 June 2026
-
Every second an irrelevant ad runs on DOOH inventory is lost revenue.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tangent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tangent. Accessed 8 Jun. 2026.
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