digressive

[ dih-gres-iv, dahy- ]

/ dɪˈgrɛs ɪv, daɪ- /

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adjective

tending to digress; departing from the main subject.

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Origin of digressive

From the Latin word dīgressīvus, dating back to 1605–15. See digress, -ive

OTHER WORDS FROM digressive

di·gres·sive·ly, adverbdi·gres·sive·ness, nounun·di·gres·sive, adjectiveun·di·gres·sive·ly, adverb

un·di·gres·sive·ness, noun

Words nearby digressive

digoxin, digram, digraph, digress, digression, digressive, digs, dig up, dihedral, dihedral angle, dihedral group

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use digressive in a sentence

He is known to be difficult, because of his love of the Latinate, and his non-linear, digressive, even symphonic, narrative style.
Nigeria’s Larger-Than-Life Nobel Laureate Chronicles a Fascinating Life|Chimamanda Adichie|August 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It is in this incidental and digressive way that we get the description of the Gospel in i. 18-ii.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 7|Various
They were simply digressive, which was to be expected, as elation befogs one's "goal idea."
A Mind That Found Itself|Clifford Whittingham Beers
Several chapters, that seem digressive in an historical light, are to be defended by this consideration.
Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries, Vol. 1|Henry Hallam

Isabel had not been so digressive and withholding as he had thought.
Pierre; or The Ambiguities|Herman Melville
Instances might be multiplied of this humorous self-abandonment; but we are growing digressive.
William E. Burton: Actor, Author, and Manager|William L. Keese

British Dictionary definitions for digressive

digressive

/ (daɪˈɡrɛsɪv) /

adjective

characterized by digression or tending to digress

Derived forms of digressive

digressively, adverbdigressiveness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

digressive

Origin of digressive

OTHER WORDS FROM digressive

Words nearby digressive

Words related to digressive

How to use digressive in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for digressive

Derived forms of digressive