beside the point

adjective

Irrelevant, moot.

“His many charitable donations are beside the point. They do not make up for the fact that he stole the money to begin with.”

Similar
neither here nor there
Opposite
to the point
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Meanings

adjectivebeside the point (not comparable)

alternative uncommon besides the point

  1. idiomaticnot comparableIrrelevant, moot.

    His many charitable donations are beside the point. They do not make up for the fact that he stole the money to begin with.

    Antonyms: to the point

adverbbeside the point (not comparable)

alternative uncommon besides the point

  1. idiomaticnot comparableIrrelevantly, off-topic.

    Judges in the British law courts used to tell lawyers who spoke beside the point or quoted irrelevant cases that they might as well say that Robin Hood in Barnsdale stood.

    1944, George Stimpson, A Book about a Thousand Things, quoted in Marcus A.J. Smith and Julian Wasserman, "In the Sheriff's Court: […] ", in Thomas G. Hahn (editor), Robin Hood in Popular Culture, Boydell & Brewer (2000), page 229

    Synonyms: neither here nor there

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveIrrelevant, moot.

Opposite
to the point

adverbIrrelevantly, off-topic.

Similar
neither here nor there
Also see
irrelevantneither here nor thereotioseparenthetically

Translations

Finnish asiaankuulumaton, asian vierestä
  • asiaankuulumatonirrelevant
  • asian vierestäirrelevantly
French c'est pas le problème
  • c'est pas le problèmeirrelevant
German darum geht es nicht
  • darum geht es nichtirrelevant
Icelandic óviðkomandi, utan við efnið
  • óviðkomandiirrelevant
  • utan við efniðirrelevant
  • sem kemur málinu ekki viðirrelevant
  • óviðkomandiirrelevantly
  • utan við efniðirrelevantly
  • sem kemur málinu ekki viðirrelevantly
Italian irrilevante, non c'entra
  • irrilevanteirrelevant
  • non c'entrairrelevant
  • fuori contestoirrelevant
  • irrilevantementeirrelevantly
Māori hape
  • hapeirrelevant
Polish bez związku, bez związku
  • bez związkuirrelevant
  • bez związkuirrelevantly
Spanish no venir a cuento, no venir al caso
  • no venir a cuentoirrelevant
  • no venir al casoirrelevant
  • despropositadoirrelevant
  • fuera de propósitoirrelevantly
  • despropositadamenteirrelevantly
Cite this entry
APA

beside the point. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beside%20the%20point

MLA

“beside the point.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beside%20the%20point. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “beside the point,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beside%20the%20point.

Source: beside the point on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.