as in rambling
passing from one topic to another
the speaker's discursive style made it difficult to understand his point
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Recent Examples of discursive
This shift makes work more discursive and creative while, paradoxically, potentially making certain work more physical.
—
Akhilesh Tripathi,
Forbes.com,
12 Mar. 2026
The instructional promise of each episode was a bit, a starting point for discursive, funny, intermittently personal mini-essays that always started in Wilson’s beloved New York, but could and did make their way anywhere.
—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
23 Jan. 2026
Knowledge itself can be both logical and discursive.
—
Bruce Schneier,
IEEE Spectrum,
21 Jan. 2026
His palette is light, smudgy guitar textures and warm synths; his message, more gestural than discursive, is love and lust.
—
Pitchfork,
4 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for discursive
Akhilesh Tripathi,
Forbes.com,
12 Mar. 2026
The instructional promise of each episode was a bit, a starting point for discursive, funny, intermittently personal mini-essays that always started in Wilson’s beloved New York, but could and did make their way anywhere.
—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
23 Jan. 2026
Knowledge itself can be both logical and discursive.
—
Bruce Schneier,
IEEE Spectrum,
21 Jan. 2026
His palette is light, smudgy guitar textures and warm synths; his message, more gestural than discursive, is love and lust.
—
Pitchfork,
4 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for discursive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for discursive
Adjective
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Honeysuckle The warm, heady, floral scent of honeysuckle, which is strongest at dusk, is instantly recognizable, and the romantically rambling vines and tubular blooms make the climbing varieties cottage-garden classics.
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Vocals have an offhand nonchalance instead of hogging the spotlight, melodies sneak up on you rather than announce themselves, and the guitars avoid crunchy riffs and overdriven twang in favor of tart rambling and clean supporting chords.
Adjective
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Controlled mind-wandering — Mind-wandering is a spontaneous zoning out of your immediate surroundings.
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When a wandering wolf threatens his fragile peace and slaughters his flock, Gaspard, blinded by rage, embarks on a perilous quest for vengeance — one that will lead him to the farthest reaches of his sorrow and guilt.
Adjective
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Iran has paused indirect talks over ending the war with the US ahead of the multi-day funeral.
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For charcoal grills, arrange coals to one side for indirect cooking.
Adjective
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In return for her weird, digressive, and highly mannered manuscript, Lemann received a kill fee.
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Like all Kashian’s work, Alter-Kashian is densely packed, and her breakneck, digressive style doesn’t leave much room to come up for air.
Cite this Entry
“Discursive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/discursive. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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