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
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Recent Examples of tangential
His meandering public speeches have, in recent months, grown longer, more tangential, and darker in tone.
—
Tribune News Service, Sun Sentinel, 23 Oct. 2024
The arrest of an erstwhile right-wing dictator dramatically narrows the options for Venezuela’s supposedly socialist revolutionaries, underlining, once more, how tangential ideology is to understanding the crisis.
—Moisés Naím, Foreign Affairs, 27 Jan. 2020
Not all of the figures are directly connected to Handel, and at times King’s deep background verges on the tangential.
—Jan Swafford, The Atlantic, 29 Oct. 2024
One of the clear, if tangential, takeaways from Monsó’s book is that predation is a very tough business.
—Kathryn Schulz, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for tangential 
Tribune News Service, Sun Sentinel, 23 Oct. 2024
The arrest of an erstwhile right-wing dictator dramatically narrows the options for Venezuela’s supposedly socialist revolutionaries, underlining, once more, how tangential ideology is to understanding the crisis.
—Moisés Naím, Foreign Affairs, 27 Jan. 2020
Not all of the figures are directly connected to Handel, and at times King’s deep background verges on the tangential.
—Jan Swafford, The Atlantic, 29 Oct. 2024
One of the clear, if tangential, takeaways from Monsó’s book is that predation is a very tough business.
—Kathryn Schulz, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for tangential
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tangential
Adjective
-
The reasoning is irrelevant; the curfew is non-negotiable.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes,
19 Jan. 2025
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The lawyer also argued that his client’s conduct that day is irrelevant to his travel request.—
Michael Kunzelman,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
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
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That leaves us with the tangent function.—
Rhett Allain,
Wired,
14 Mar. 2022
Adjective
-
The frames have a wonderfully wide field of view, with excellent peripheral vision.—
Maggie Slepian,
Travel + Leisure,
24 Jan. 2025
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Son, Dejan Kulusevski and Solanke were peripheral figures.—
Jay Harris,
The Athletic,
15 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near tangential
Cite this Entry
“Tangential.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tangential. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
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