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
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Recent Examples of tangent
Ryan Brennan, Miami Herald, 5 Mar. 2026
At this point, the joke veers into tangents.
—Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 26 Feb. 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 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
At this point, the joke veers into tangents.
—Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 26 Feb. 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
-
As an aside, often responses will come in that do attempt to diagnose a medical condition or remedy based on a brief description of a problem in a letter.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Mercury News,
13 Apr. 2026
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On a personal aside, Jackson has been the QB on my Greg’s Lobos fantasy teams for years.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
13 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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And though Russia is playing only a tangential role in the crisis there, Moscow could emerge as one of the victors of war.—
Simon Shuster,
The Atlantic,
26 Mar. 2026
-
Some of the protagonists have tangential connections to each other, while some are family.—
Murtada Elfadl,
Variety,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Problem solving may also suffer without these low-effort digressions.—
Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez,
Fortune,
11 Apr. 2026
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Such digressions could pose a problem in the future as the possibilities of human colonies in space become more likely.—
Devika Rao,
TheWeek,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Patients’ realities aren’t peripheral to medical education.—
Uché Blackstock,
STAT,
15 Apr. 2026
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Home care is no longer a peripheral service.—
Jake Krilovich,
Boston Herald,
12 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Alserkal’s role here is not incidental.—
Daniel Cassady,
ARTnews.com,
14 Apr. 2026
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American Express relies on airlines to submit the correct information on airline transactions to identify incidental fee purchases.—
Jason Stauffer,
CNBC,
13 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Without political capital, leadership is irrelevant, because such a person is incapable of being a leader.—
Jim Nowlan,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Apr. 2026
-
Their win, combined with Edmonton’s 6-1 rout of Vancouver, made the Kings’ result in Calgary irrelevant and locked in the final seedings for the Ducks, Kings and Oilers.—
Oc Register,
Oc Register,
17 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tangent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tangent. Accessed 22 Apr. 2026.
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