
Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018
Tangential (adjective)
tan·gen·tial [tan-jen-shuh?l]
adjective
1. pertaining to or of the nature of a tangent; being or moving in the direction of a tangent.
2. merely touching; slightly connected: tangential information.
3. divergent or digressive, as from a subject under consideration: tangential remarks.
4. tending to digress or to reply to questions obliquely.
Also tan·gen·tal [tan-jen-tl] /tænˈdʒɛn tl/.
Related forms
tan·gen·ti·al·i·ty, noun
tan·gen·tial·ly, tan·gen·tal·ly, adverb
non·tan·gen·tal, adjective
non·tan·gen·tial, adjective
non·tan·gen·tial·ly, adverb
un·tan·gen·tal, adjective
un·tan·gen·tal·ly, adverb
un·tan·gen·tial, adjective
un·tan·gen·tial·ly, adverb
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
Origin: 1620–30; tangent + -ial
Examples from the Web for tangential
Contemporary Examples
A tangential answer to your question would be, what am I proudest of?
How I Write: Jared Diamond
Noah Charney
November 20, 2013
Tangential characters are combined into composites or eliminated entirely; the same holds for certain events.
‘Game of Thrones’ Season 2 Review: Majesty, Mystery, and Terror Reign Supreme
Jace Lacob
March 30, 2012
Once again the idea came from a tangential story she came across researching Unbroken.
Laura Hillenbrand's Acclaimed Bestsellers Haven't Changed Her
Sandra McElwaine
December 21, 2011
Historical Examples
In Fig. 6, F represents the tangential force that tends to cause skidding.
American Rural Highways
T. R. Agg
From this simple lattice sphere all other Sphroidea can be derived either by radial or by tangential growth.
Report on the Radiolaria Collected by H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873-1876, First Part: Porulosa (Spumellaria and Acantharia)
Ernst Haeckel
The tangential needles always seem to have the same shape as I have accurately described, in 1862, of Aulacantha scolymantha.
Report on the Radiolaria Collected by H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873-1876, Second Part: Subclass Osculosa; Index
Ernst Haeckel
They are, in short, mountains of elevation, ridged up by tangential thrusts.
Fragments of Earth Lore
James Geikie
It follows that a line from B to M will always be tangential to the epicycloid.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 5
Various