as in rambling
passing from one topic to another
the speaker's discursive style made it difficult to understand his point
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Recent Examples of discursive
As an impressionist, Carvey's style was more, well, impressionist — his gabbling, discursive George H.W. Bush spinning out further and further while remaining resolutely tethered to some measure of loony reality (taking a similar approach for his recent recurring stint as President Joe Biden).
—
Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 16 Feb. 2025
Set entirely in Linda’s Manhattan apartment, the film freely and imaginatively recreates that long-ago afternoon and the wonderfully discursive exchange between these two singular individuals.
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 4 Feb. 2025
There’s a discursive ramble about ordering Chinese food that takes on a strange power.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 27 Jan. 2025
The concerto can appear undisciplined and discursive, with a running time of 70 minutes, a medley-like approach to style and a finale that brings in a male choir for a paean to nature.
—Joshua Barone, New York Times, 24 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for discursive
Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 16 Feb. 2025
Set entirely in Linda’s Manhattan apartment, the film freely and imaginatively recreates that long-ago afternoon and the wonderfully discursive exchange between these two singular individuals.
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 4 Feb. 2025
There’s a discursive ramble about ordering Chinese food that takes on a strange power.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 27 Jan. 2025
The concerto can appear undisciplined and discursive, with a running time of 70 minutes, a medley-like approach to style and a finale that brings in a male choir for a paean to nature.
—Joshua Barone, New York Times, 24 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for discursive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for discursive
Adjective
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Refine your key points to be clear and concise—no rambling monologues.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
15 Apr. 2025
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In the early morning hours of Dec. 26, 1996, Patsy Ramsey called 911 to report her 6-year-old daughter JonBenét missing, and found a rambling ransom note left inside their Boulder, Colorado, home.—
Erin Moriarty,
CBS News,
20 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Love: Chi, The Spa Rest your wandering feet at the Shangri-La’s lower level spa, complete with a gardenside pool fit for royalty.—
Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner,
Forbes.com,
21 May 2025
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The film is narrated in the languages of the cultures the characters move through, as Burmese gives way to Thai, to Vietnamese, and beyond — a wandering, collective dream.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
28 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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For one, there’s the notion of indirect value, which is hard to quantify for software providers that aren’t in the business of sales enablement solutions.—
Chris Mele,
Forbes.com,
27 May 2025
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While the animals couldn’t communicate to confirm whether the technology was working, their behaviors and physiology provided indirect clues to the team.—
Margherita Bassi,
Smithsonian Magazine,
27 May 2025
Adjective
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The tabloid reader commuting home on the No. 4 train was given the same all-access pass to his protean intellect and lyrical, digressive sentences as the Park Avenue neighbor of William F. Buckley’s reading him, fireside, in the more rarefied outlets.—
Ginia Bellafante,
New York Times,
16 May 2025
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But as this season has gotten more hilariously digressive in its social experiments, so has Fielder in pressing for ever-more-absurd attempts at verisimilitude.—
Scott Tobias,
Vulture,
5 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Discursive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/discursive. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.
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