tangential

adjective

tan·​gen·​tial tan-ˈjen(t)-shəl 

1

a

: touching lightly : incidental, peripheral

tangential involvement

also : of little relevance

arguments tangential to the main point

b

: divergent, digressive

2

: of, relating to, or of the nature of a tangent

3

: acting along or lying in a tangent

tangential forces

tangentially

tan-ˈjen(t)-sh(ə-)lē 

adverb

Did you know?

Tangential Has Mathematical Roots

In geometry, a tangent is a straight line that touches a curve at a single point. So we say that someone who starts talking about one thing and gets sidetracked has gone off on a tangent. The new subject is tangential to the first subject—it touches it and moves off in a different direction.

Examples of tangential in a Sentence

Their romance is tangential to the book's main plot.

Recent Examples on the Web

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

In a tangential sense, no filmmaker working from 1960 onward would have gotten anywhere without the influence of John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands. —Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 18 Aug. 2024

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

The market gods simply pronounced the data story dead, which then reverberated as far as Club industrials Eaton and the even more tangential Dover , was a real decimation that washed over anything good in the semi world. —Jim Cramer, CNBC, 11 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1630, in the meaning defined at sense 2