discursive

adjective

dis·​cur·​sive di-ˈskər-siv 

1

a

: moving from topic to topic without order : rambling

gave a discursive lecture

discursive prose

b

: proceeding coherently from topic to topic

2

philosophy : marked by a method of resolving complex expressions into simpler or more basic ones : marked by analytical reasoning

3

: of or relating to discourse

discursive practices

discursively adverb

discursiveness noun

Did you know?

The Latin verb discurrere meant "to run about", and from this word we get our word discursive, which often means rambling about over a wide range of topics. A discursive writing style generally isn't encouraged by writing teachers. But some of the great 19th-century writers, such as Charles Lamb and Thomas de Quincey, show that the discursive essay, especially when gracefully written and somewhat personal in tone, can be a pleasure to read. And the man often called the inventor of the essay, the great Michel de Montaigne, might touch on dozens of different topics in the course of a long discursive essay.

Synonyms

• desultory
• digressional
• digressionary
• digressive
• excursive
• leaping
• maundering
• meandering
• rambling
• wandering

Examples of discursive in a Sentence

the speaker's discursive style made it difficult to understand his point

Recent Examples on the Web

There’s something discursive about the way the music and narrative and gestures of the performers only combine in your head. —Juan A. Ramírez, Vulture, 24 Apr. 2024

Early methods of generating scenarios were often freewheeling and discursive. —J. Peter Scoblic, Foreign Affairs, 13 Oct. 2020

What changed in the years since the beginning of the #MeToo movement is the presumption that strong enough discursive pushback might indeed lead to actual banishment. —Jon Caramanica, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2024

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. —Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 14 Dec. 2023

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Medieval Latin discursīvus "showing reasoned thought, logical," from discursus, past participle of discurrere "to range over, discuss" (going back to Latin, "to run off in different directions, [of a mind or speaker] branch out, range") + Latin -īvus -ive — more at discourse entry 1

First Known Use

1595, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Kids Definition

discursive

adjective

dis·​cur·​sive dis-ˈkər-siv 

: passing from one topic to another

a discursive speech

discursively adverb

discursiveness noun