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
Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of tangent
Tarot.com, Sun Sentinel, 6 Nov. 2024
The stories were tangents that came from my family’s individual experiences and my own in relation to them.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 3 Nov. 2024
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
While the intimate Moon in your communication sector cooperates with focused Saturn in your self-expression zone, you’re equipped to identify which details are genuinely necessary to shape a coherent narrative versus which will lead off on distracting tangents.
—Tarot.com, Sun Sentinel, 6 Nov. 2024
The stories were tangents that came from my family’s individual experiences and my own in relation to them.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 3 Nov. 2024
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
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Just as an aside for context, Dixon’s family didn’t know about the Medlock connection until the research for this seris began.Keith Sharon, The Tennessean, 20 Dec. 2024
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In its legal asides and the opaque quality of its principal characters, the series mirrors the spirit of the books.Greg Braxton, Los Angeles Times, 27 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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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
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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
Noun
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Gottlieb followed up that social media digression by taking to X just before Wednesday’s game to give his take on whether Michigan’s Trey Burke fouled Louisville’s Peyton Siva during a block attempt in the 2013 NCAA men’s basketball national championship.Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 18 Dec. 2024
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The digression began after the talk show host flashed a photo of Posey posing with his pants down on an open highway behind his motorcycle, which the actor had posted to social media, covering his rump with a skull emoji.Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 7 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Additional peripheral mounts will be released in August, including the $99 Pro Flying surfaces for a joystick and throttle, the $189 Pro Desktop desk surface for a mouse and keyboard, and the $199 Pro Racing surfaces for a steering wheel and pedals.Will Greenwald, PCMAG, 9 Jan. 2025
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In the early 2000s, the leadership team took a peripheral risk by investing in streaming technology—a bet that seemed uncertain at the time.ByMargie Warrell, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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This strikes me as an archetypal example of a change that is merely incidental to the actual level of spending, and that can’t be done with reconciliation.Dylan Matthews, Vox, 2 Jan. 2025
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The country’s Supreme Court, in a report that was kept sealed but reported on by Politico, rubber-stamped the hacking as incidental to legitimate state operations.Ronan Farrow, The New Yorker, 20 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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All the logical arguments in the world, however, are irrelevant if fans believe something is off about the product and change the channel.Lev Akabas, Sportico.com, 7 Jan. 2025
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Through multiple appeals over the years, his legal team questioned Gauci’s testimony and conflict of interests, the bomb timer, and evidence not originally heard in court about a security breach at Heathrow airport which would change the bag’s origin and render Malta irrelevant.Proma Khosla, IndieWire, 6 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near tangent
Cite this Entry
“Tangent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tangent. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
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