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.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of tangential
From her career beginnings alongside Ansel Elgort in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, through her recent starring role in Jamie Lloyd’s Evita, Zegler’s public narrative has been defined not by her (immense) talent but by various tangential squabbles.
—
Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 28 July 2025
The music felt almost secondary to apocryphal stories tangential to the music.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 22 July 2025
Significant policy changes that have a tangential or incidental budgetary impact are subject to 60-vote point-of-order objections.
—Alexander Bolton, The Hill, 28 June 2025
The fraud that ensnared Middlesex Truck and Coach as a tangential victim covered thousands of miles via electronic byways.
—Cezary Podkul, ProPublica, 25 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for tangential
Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 28 July 2025
The music felt almost secondary to apocryphal stories tangential to the music.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 22 July 2025
Significant policy changes that have a tangential or incidental budgetary impact are subject to 60-vote point-of-order objections.
—Alexander Bolton, The Hill, 28 June 2025
The fraud that ensnared Middlesex Truck and Coach as a tangential victim covered thousands of miles via electronic byways.
—Cezary Podkul, ProPublica, 25 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for tangential
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tangential
Adjective
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Both are devoted to the same hetero fairy tale; whether the wedding is happening in the temple or on national television is irrelevant.—
Olivia Crandall,
Vulture,
10 Sep. 2025
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His main criticism is how many of the recommendations are either generic or irrelevant to his interests.—
James Peckham,
PC Magazine,
9 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The slope, or steepness, of the tangent line measures how quickly the function is changing at that point.—
Solomon Adams,
WIRED,
23 Feb. 2025
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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
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Despite iffy peripheral stats, the bullpen has been better since the trade deadline.—
Cody Stavenhagen,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
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While an opioid would’ve been an easy choice, a doctor performed a nerve block instead, numbing the peripheral areas of pain rather than sedating the brain.—
Dr. Sanjay Gupta,
CNN Money,
2 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tangential.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tangential. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.
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