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
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Recent Examples of tangent
Jessica Riskin, The New York Review of Books, 3 Apr. 2025
Almost miraculously, a circle emerges from countless tangents.
—Jonathon Keats, Forbes.com, 28 Mar. 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
Unfortunately, things go poorly—her mind meanders on tangents, thoughts fail to coalesce, words elude her.
—Jessica Riskin, The New York Review of Books, 3 Apr. 2025
Almost miraculously, a circle emerges from countless tangents.
—Jonathon Keats, Forbes.com, 28 Mar. 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
-
And some seemingly tangential issues aren’t so tangential after all.—
Kevin Williams,
Quartz,
22 Apr. 2025
-
Indeed, Buchwald won; the suit was famous in Hollywood circles regarding a tangential issue, namely laying bare the industry accounting practices that kept even wildly successful films from ever making a profit on paper.—
Bill Wyman,
Vulture,
28 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Alvarado and José Ostos did the cinematography, and their keen sense of light, color, and tempo invests Adela’s tender observations and enigmatic digressions with drama and passion.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
28 Mar. 2025
-
Spread across a larger ensemble, with more side alleys and self-amusing authorial digressions, The Barbarians is more diffuse.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
23 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Despite trillions of dollars at stake, forest destruction—and the corporate role in driving it—is still widely treated as a peripheral issue.—
Felicia Jackson,
Forbes.com,
8 May 2025
-
But after a playoff contender over in the American League suffered a brutal injury setback, the Mets could be looking to offload some of their peripheral talent.—
Peter Chawaga,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 May 2025
Adjective
-
Footage labeled as ‘incidental’ — which is how the FWC says its two officers labeled their footage — includes FWC officers issuing warnings or non-criminal infraction citations, the policy says.—
Grethel Aguila,
Miami Herald,
9 May 2025
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Programs that nominally reimburse donors for incidental costs are either means-tested against recipients or only offer reimbursement after donation, meaning donors must be able to afford lost wages and other costs upfront.—
Ruby Rorty,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Brock Purdy certainly isn't going to be paid like someone who's irrelevant anymore.—
Cesar Brioso,
USA Today,
20 May 2025
-
But the details of how Peter ran his kingdom are irrelevant, if colorful.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
19 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tangent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tangent. Accessed 24 May. 2025.
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