as in irrelevant
having little to do with the matter at hand
Your point is tangential to the main objective of this meeting so please save it for later.
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 tangential
Is that a fair, if perhaps tangential, limning of this sinister quality that your poems sometimes have?
—
Corey Seymour, Vogue, 6 Feb. 2025
The main selling point of our domains may be the metaphor or emotional invocations, so the connection to keywords is tangential or opaque.
—Darpan Munjal, Forbes, 22 Dec. 2024
That inadvertently led to one of the darkest tangential consequences of the building of the Sydney Opera House.
—Michael Y. Park, Architectural Digest, 9 Dec. 2024
Medical professionals document whether patients' thoughts are logical and linear or tangential and meandering.
—Natalie Eilbert, Journal Sentinel, 19 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for tangential
Corey Seymour, Vogue, 6 Feb. 2025
The main selling point of our domains may be the metaphor or emotional invocations, so the connection to keywords is tangential or opaque.
—Darpan Munjal, Forbes, 22 Dec. 2024
That inadvertently led to one of the darkest tangential consequences of the building of the Sydney Opera House.
—Michael Y. Park, Architectural Digest, 9 Dec. 2024
Medical professionals document whether patients' thoughts are logical and linear or tangential and meandering.
—Natalie Eilbert, Journal Sentinel, 19 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for tangential
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tangential
Adjective
-
The weather’s getting warmer in Montreal, playoff weather, a time of year this group is used to looking for external, irrelevant sources of motivation to play out the string.—
Arpon Basu,
The Athletic,
16 Mar. 2025
-
Too long to weed through red herrings and convolutions in the mystery that eventually border on irrelevant.—
Daniel Fienberg,
The Hollywood Reporter,
12 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
The slope, or steepness, of the tangent line measures how quickly the function is changing at that point.—
Solomon Adams,
WIRED,
23 Feb. 2025
-
By 1643, René Descartes had discovered a simple relationship between the curvatures of any four circles that are tangent to each other.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
10 Aug. 2023
Adjective
-
Entrepreneurs who participate commit to mentoring young people from peripheral communities who want to start tech businesses, creating a virtuous cycle of knowledge sharing and opportunity creation.—
Angelica Mari,
Forbes,
12 Mar. 2025
-
While insurance typically will not cover these elective procedures, if your peripheral eyesight is substantially impaired because of overhanging eyelids, some insurers may cover an upper bleph; an advance comprehensive vision test is required.—
Elycia Rubin,
The Hollywood Reporter,
8 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tangential.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tangential. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share