How to Use tangential in a Sentence

tangential

adjective
Definition of tangentialnext
Synonyms for tangentialnext
  • Their romance is tangential to the book's main plot.
  • This has a tangential effect on the Colts, who host the Ravens on Nov. 8.
    — Jim Ayello, The Indianapolis Star, 3 Oct. 2020
  • Some of the questions were tangential to what was going on in the game.
    — Susan Slusser, SFChronicle.com, 7 Oct. 2020
  • Put in tangential search terms and the world is your oyster.
    — Allison Duncan, WSJ, 14 Feb. 2019
  • Gaia is trying to measure the tangential motion of the star on the plane of the sky.
    — Stephen Ornes, Discover Magazine, 2 Nov. 2018
  • At the equator, the magnetic field is tangential to the earth.
    — Peter Byrne, Quanta Magazine, 30 July 2013
  • Know when to cut bait when a tangential prop ain't working.
    — Nate Davis, USA TODAY, 24 Apr. 2020
  • And yet King’s championing of struggling artists felt tangential to the specifics of the trial.
    — Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 16 Aug. 2022
  • The United States has only the most tangential reach into the halls of power in Iran and holds little sway in the streets.
    — Suzanne Maloney, Foreign Affairs, 28 Feb. 2023
  • If the morning-after footage is tangential to the case, why should the night-before footage matter?
    — John Hendrickson, Esquire, 12 Mar. 2017
  • And there are so many tangential scenes that the plot focus became fuzzy for me midway through.
    — Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Apr. 2023
  • But for the most part the lyrics have only a tangential relationship to the action.
    — Los Angeles Times, 16 Nov. 2021
  • Because Mad Men won't tell you anything that's tangential to the next leg of a character arc.
    — Matt Patches, Esquire, 5 Apr. 2015
  • Nights in Austin are marked by the flow of tangential conversations, like rushing waters that move from a spring to a stream, and then to the river.
    — Alison Medley, Houston Chronicle, 21 Sep. 2020
  • After finishing with the worst record in the league last season, the jump to fourth is proof that there is tangential growth for Cleveland’s rebuild!
    — Evan Dammarell, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2021
  • This whole argument is a bit tangential to the book’s focus of why robots should prevail in space, at least for the time being.
    — Bruce Dorminey, Forbes, 24 Apr. 2022
  • Without their buy-in, the platform could prove tangential to solving the city’s annoying snarl-ups.
    — Abdi Latif Dahir, Quartz Africa, 19 June 2019
  • There was a Lord of the Rings reference, and Indiana Jones also got a tangential nod.
    — Katie Mettler, courant.com, 22 May 2017
  • And there were incredible pieces of the story that, for reasons that felt too tangential, ended up on the floor.
    — Whitney Friedlander, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2021
  • Many of the names have only a tangential connection to Epstein.
    — Spencer Elliott, USA TODAY, 4 Jan. 2024
  • Diaz swirls through tangential passages on the floor, only rising to her feet near the work’s halfway point.
    — Lauren Warnecke, chicagotribune.com, 9 Sep. 2017
  • Some of the most explosive Durham filings themselves have proved to be misleading or tangential to the case.
    — New York Times, 1 June 2022
  • So why is a carbon tax MIA in these big, splashy plans that somehow found room for so many tangential provisions?
    — Catherine Rampell, The Denver Post, 9 June 2019
  • All these tangential, but severe consequences of the war.
    — Claire Thornton, USA TODAY, 1 Aug. 2021
  • Behind the humor, the tangential histories, and the detailed descriptions hides a great deal of pain.
    — Sarah Schutte, National Review, 29 Feb. 2020
  • For a squeaky-clean outfit such as the Girl Scouts, even a tangential association with Trump is now to be avoided.
    — Hugo Martín, Los Angeles Times, 15 Jan. 2021
  • The relationship to Isamu Noguchi is tangential, but some of his stone sculptures might almost have been pried from the earth with parts left rough and others scoured to a high gloss by wind and rain.
    — Curbed, 16 Nov. 2022
  • And the island wasn't prepared for the rapid loss of income, not just in employment on the base, but in home rentals, at restaurants and bars, and even tangential services like babysitting.
    — Graham Kates, CBS News, 20 Sep. 2017
  • One way of doing this is to take initiative (and deliver results) in projects both within and tangential to your skill set.
    — Stephen Turban, Forbes, 16 Aug. 2024
  • Quite often, the clothes, music and other elements that at first blush may seem tangential to fandom will overlap with sports in a manner sufficient to help spawn a sort of energy exchange.
    — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 6 Sep. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tangential.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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