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
Examples 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.
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Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2024
This is a goofy, tangential start to a book devoted to the foreign policy of the Biden presidency.
—Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 11 Oct. 2024
The conference is hosted in collaboration with CAA Media Finance and the focus is broad, with a tangential connection to what most speakers in the room described as Spain’s bustling film sector.
—Zac Ntim, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2024
Consequently, the Pentagon is routinely given the task of large-scale implementation, which creates interagency inefficiencies because the armed services typically view train-and-equip missions as tangential to their principal tasks of waging war and defending the homeland.
—Paul J. Angelo, Foreign Affairs, 11 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for tangential 
Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2024
This is a goofy, tangential start to a book devoted to the foreign policy of the Biden presidency.
—Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 11 Oct. 2024
The conference is hosted in collaboration with CAA Media Finance and the focus is broad, with a tangential connection to what most speakers in the room described as Spain’s bustling film sector.
—Zac Ntim, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2024
Consequently, the Pentagon is routinely given the task of large-scale implementation, which creates interagency inefficiencies because the armed services typically view train-and-equip missions as tangential to their principal tasks of waging war and defending the homeland.
—Paul J. Angelo, Foreign Affairs, 11 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for tangential
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tangential
Adjective
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The pleasant sphere is much less visually interesting, but that’s oddly irrelevant to the art museum.Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 22 Nov. 2024
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To not diversify leadership and practice DEI is to risk being irrelevant.Julie Kratz, Forbes, 6 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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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
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That leaves us with the tangent function.Rhett Allain, Wired, 14 Mar. 2022
Adjective
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The role of the expectant father has been largely silent in the portrayal of this struggle, cast as a peripheral figure in an attack on women's rights.Gemma Allen, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024
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Those settlements show another, quieter front in China’s expanding efforts to assert its control over disputed, peripheral territories – also playing out in the South and East China Seas – as Chinese leader Xi Jinping seeks to bolster national security and enhance China’s position over its rivals.Simone McCarthy, CNN, 5 Nov. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near tangential
Cite this Entry
“Tangential.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tangential. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
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