digressive
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of digressive
From the Latin word dīgressīvus, dating back to 1605–15. See digress, -ive
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.
The long, digressive rural idyll “NN” follows a sophisticated city dweller’s return to the village of his childhood country house.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026
The photography is occasionally dazzling—a standout sequence is a series of time-lapse images providing views of the movements of the stars over Africa—but Mr. Herzog is primarily a storyteller, albeit a digressive one.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026
The dialogue is naturally digressive, sliding in just as much exposition as needed with a magician’s sleight of hand.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 22, 2025
However, it appears that the 79-year-old president mixed up the two men when telling one of his digressive stories, this time about Ted Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber.
From Salon • Jul. 23, 2025
Brougham made a great speech on education the other night, but it was so long, tedious, and digressive that he drove everybody away.
From The Greville Memoirs (Second Part) A Journal of the Reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1852 (Volume 1 of 3) by Greville, Charles
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.