What does digressional mean?
Digressional is a formal adjective meaning inclined to deviate from the main subject or line of discussion. It is often applied to remarks, passages, tendencies, and detours that move away from the central matter, although it can sometimes suggest that the deviation is unnecessary or distracting. For example, an essay may be praised for its digressional insights or criticized for its digressional passages. The word is related to the noun digression and the adjective digressive but is less common than either. Digressional is useful in precise editorial, rhetorical, or academic contexts where the tendency itself, rather than a particular act of diverging, needs to be identified. Its Latin roots reinforce the idea of departure: the underlying verb combines a prefix meaning "away from" with a root meaning "to step."
adjectiveCharacterized by or inclined to digression; tending to move away from the main subject.
- Characterized by or tending toward digression, especially a departure from the main subject of speech or writing.
"The essay's digressional passages were informative, but they diluted its central argument."
"His digressional tendency became obvious whenever a technical question arose."
"The editor removed several digressional passages that distracted from the report's main findings."
Its Latin ancestry literally means "a step away": digressional comes from a word built on de-, meaning "away from," and gradere, meaning "to step."
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does digressional come from?
Digressional belongs to an English word family based on Latin digredere, formed from de-, meaning "away from," and gradere, meaning "to step." The Latin noun digresio, meaning a departure or turning aside, developed into English digression and related forms such as digress, digresser, and digressive. Digressional expresses the adjectival sense "pertaining to or tending toward digression."
How digressional is actually used
Formal and relatively uncommon in contemporary English. It normally characterizes speech, writing, or a tendency rather than the act of departing from the subject itself.
Easily confused with digressional
Both words describe something inclined to depart from the main subject, but digressional is less common and more formal.