TANGENT Synonyms: 57 Similar and Opposite Words

tangent 1 of 2

noun

ˈtan-jənt

Definition of tangent

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

tangent

2 of 2

adjective

as in tangential

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

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

Noun

Even a tonally lighter mid-season tangent about two horror host streamers who stumble on an early sighting of the Human Vapor in a music video is charged with precarity and desperation. — Rory Doherty, Time, 3 July 2026 Her words prove true throughout his interview, during which Glover opens up for the first time about his life with Alzheimer's disease, often toggling between unfinished thoughts and poetic personal tangents. — Janine Rubenstein, PEOPLE, 1 July 2026

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

What makes this all the more unfortunate is that most of these excited personal asides come right under his listing of the figures for infections and deaths.

— Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 29 July 2026
There are asides about how the helmet communication receivers don’t always work.

— Darren Cooper, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026

Definition of aside

Adjective

The fingertips add another layer of intelligence through tactile sensors that detect normal force, tangential shear force, and the precise location of contact.

— Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 20 July 2026
There is significant worry about the status of Christian Pulisic’s calf, and there’s also a bit of tangential drama here for the Australians.

— Chris Branch, New York Times, 19 June 2026

Definition of tangential

Noun

But these digressions were great theatre, with Cohn as the ringmaster.

— Kai Bird, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
This analysis makes up the most compelling part of the book, which is written in a kind of structureless, hybrid blogger-academic style, and otherwise tends to bog down in confusing digressions.

— Gilad Edelman, The Atlantic, 19 July 2026

Definition of digression

Adjective

Even in the third-person narration of Call of the Wild the dramatis personae of eccentric, infighting dogs overshadows the flat and peripheral human characters until Thornton appears.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Aug. 2026
Born from a collaboration between OpenAI and Work Louder, a peripheral maker best known for making retrofuturistic mechanical keyboards, the Codex Micro is a curious device.

— Brian Westover, PC Magazine, 3 Aug. 2026

Definition of peripheral

Adjective

The underlying logic is that these elements of the bachelor’s degree, which are not intrinsic to a student’s area of study or necessary for their professional preparedness, are incidental to the overall value of the degree.

— Christopher Rim, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026
In 2023, my cat was diagnosed with abdominal cancer, completely incidental on exam.

— Dana Taylor, USA Today, 29 July 2026

Definition of incidental

Adjective

The migrants were never going to be able to reach the mainland EU, but that fact was irrelevant to hard-right, anti-migrant politicians around the world who portrayed the incident in apocalyptic terms.

— Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 3 Aug. 2026
There’s a big difference between irrelevant and less relevant.

— Shep Hyken, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026

Definition of irrelevant

Browse Nearby Words

tanged

tangent

tangential

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Tangent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tangent. Accessed 8 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of tangent

noun

adjective

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

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