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tangential

UK/tænˈd͡ʒɛn.t͡ʃəl/US/tænˈd͡ʒɛn.t͡ʃəl/
adjectiveC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,888 of 15,258leans written

Tangential means only slightly connected to the main point. A tangential remark.

The picture is a tangent, a line that touches a curve at one point and goes off. A tangential question is not always useless, since it is where a good deal of discovery comes from.

Definitions of tangential

  1. 1adjectivetangentialOnly slightly connected to the main point.C1

    “The whole discussion went tangential about ten minutes in.”

tangential is a quality.

Where it comes from

From tangent + -ial.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

tangential in the wild

  • The tangential acceleration of an object is the component of the acceleration which is in the same direction as the motion (or tangential velocity) of the object.

    Acceleration

  • Some adults with right hemisphere brain damage exhibit tangential speech.

    Tangential speech

  • The legs can be equal (see isosceles tangential trapezoid below), but they don't have to be.

    Tangential trapezoid

  • All triangles are tangential, as are all regular polygons with any number of sides.

    Tangential polygon

  • The reference triangle is the Gergonne triangle of the tangential triangle.

    Tangential triangle

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.