discursive
adjective
Did you know?
The Latin verb discurrere meant "to run about", and from this word we get our word discursive, which often means rambling about over a wide range of topics. A discursive writing style generally isn't encouraged by writing teachers. But some of the great 19th-century writers, such as Charles Lamb and Thomas de Quincey, show that the discursive essay, especially when gracefully written and somewhat personal in tone, can be a pleasure to read. And the man often called the inventor of the essay, the great Michel de Montaigne, might touch on dozens of different topics in the course of a long discursive essay.
Synonyms
Examples of discursive in a Sentence
Melvin Backman, Quartz, 19 Nov. 2024
For all the discursive conversations about finding meaning in a dying world, this is still fundamentally a show where plot takes precedence over character.
—Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 27 Oct. 2024
Although Pinker writes as a scientist, his approach in this book is discursive rather than deductive, charmingly but not quite persuasively advancing his ex cathedra views about life in general.
—Timothy Snyder, Foreign Affairs, 18 Dec. 2011
Morrissey’s films, in contrast, contained more character and narrative (not to mention camera movement), though his films were still out there — with the dialogue often improvised and the stories strange and discursive.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 29 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for discursive 
Dictionary Entries Near discursive
Cite this Entry
“Discursive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discursive. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
discursive
adjective
Share