tangentially

American  

[tan-jen-shuh-lee] / tænˈdʒɛn ʃə li /

Rarely tangentally

adverb

1. in a way that barely touches or involves someone or something.

   The subject’s tempestuous first marriage is only tangentially dealt with in the biography.

2. in a way that is only slightly related or relevant.

   The novel dedicates a huge amount of space to characters and events that are, at most, tangentially connected to the main plot.

3. in a divergent or digressive way.

   Whether or not this is easier, as I have tangentially mentioned, is in fact a difficult question.

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Other Word Forms

• nontangentially adverb
• untangentially adverb

Etymology

Origin of tangentially

tangential ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

There are many aspects of the recent selloff that are concerning, with anything tangentially threatened by AI getting hit hard.

From Barron's • Feb. 13, 2026

From the bench to the C-suite, no position of honor or authority would be entrusted to anyone even tangentially connected to the madness.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 15, 2025

We meet spouses and children, some of whom are more enthusiastic than others about being tangentially pulled into the Real Housewives vortex.

From BBC • Aug. 12, 2025

In these bumpers, the cast of a “Housewives” show line up next to one another and hold up an object that tangentially relates to whatever city the cast lives in.

From Salon • Mar. 15, 2025

Temple touched on it only tangentially in his essay; it recedes into the background again in Swift’s Battle of the Books.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton