digression
Americannoun
-
the act of digressing.
- Synonyms:
- divergence, deviation
-
a passage or section that deviates from the central theme in speech or writing.
- Synonyms:
- divergence, deviation
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of digression
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin dīgressiōn-, stem of dīgressiō “departure,” from dīgress(us) “departed” (past participle of dīgredī “to go off, depart”; see digress) + -iō -ion
Explanation
When your essay about French cooking starts describing a childhood trip to Disneyland, it's taken a digression — it's strayed from the main topic. "But I digress" is a phrase often used by people when they realize they're no longer "on-topic." A digression is like a tangent, only digression often describes speech patterns, whereas tangent comes to us from mathematics. Another trick to remembering the meaning of digression is its relationship to the word progression. A progression is a series of ideas which proceeds in the same direction; a digression, logically enough, is an idea that goes off in another direction.
Vocabulary lists containing digression
100 Top "SAT" Words
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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
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The Things They Carried
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Digression: Benford’s eponymous credit is an instance of Stigler’s law, which contends that scientific discoveries are never named after their original discoverer.
From Scientific American • May 8, 2023
Digression time, and briefly, but 2014’s box office hit a 20-year low.
From Time • Jul. 22, 2015
Digression and detour are the norm in Afterlives; Dickey speaks not for, but with, the saints.
From Salon • Jun. 23, 2012
Digression concerning Banks of Deposit, particularly concerning that of Amsterdam.
From An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Smith, Adam
The Story of the Kit Cat Club, Dick Estcourt, and Jacob Tonson, is a mere Digression; and nothing more to the Purpose, than that we may imagine it came uppermost.
From A Learned Dissertation on Dumpling (1726) [and] Pudding and Dumpling Burnt to Pot. Or a Compleat Key to the Dissertation on Dumpling (1727) by Macey, Samuel L.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
