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.
Having just nabbed the Pulitzer Prize, Bess Wohl’s where-did-the-feminist-movement-go-wrong? play “Liberation” seems the likely winner, and a worthy one, despite its shaggy and digressive structure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
Tolerant readers will delight in the digressive nature of this inventive book, though others may be disoriented by a story that drastically switches gears before concluding.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 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
The Lettre sur les sourds et muets, however, is substantially a digressive examination of some points in aesthetics.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 4 "Diameter" to "Dinarchus" by Various
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.
