Meanings
comparative more discursive · superlative most discursive
- Of or concerning discourse.
- Tending to digress from the main point.
This means, at times, long and perhaps overly discursive discussions of other taxa.
1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page viii1 more example
This period had long since passed; the discursive reading, the enlightened discourse of her grandfather, had cast her mind in a different mould to the usual superstition of her country; but faith and love were only more pure and perfect in a soul too innocent not to be religious.
1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 185Synonyms: digressive, rambling, discoursive
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveTending to digress from the main point.
adjectiveUsing reason and argument rather than intuition.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveproceeding to a conclusion by reason or argument rather than intuition
adjective(of e.g. speech and writing) tending to depart from the main point or cover a wide range of subjects
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Medieval Latindiscursivus
- Latindiscursus
- Middle Frenchdiscursif
- Englishdiscursive
Borrowed from Middle French discursif, formed from the stem of Latin discursus and the suffix -if, and in part borrowed from Medieval Latin discursivus. By surface analysis, discourse + -ive.
More words from Middle French, Latin, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian безсистемен, несвързан
- безсистемен (bezsistemen)tending to digress from the main point; rambling
- несвързан (nesvărzan)tending to digress from the main point; rambling
Catalan discursiu, discursiu
- discursiutending to digress from the main point; rambling
- discursiuusing reason and argument rather than intuition
Chinese Mandarin 離題 /离题, 漫無邊際 /漫无边际
- 離題 /离题 (lítí)tending to digress from the main point; rambling
- 漫無邊際 /漫无边际tending to digress from the main point; rambling
Dutch redenerend
- redenerendusing reason and argument rather than intuition
Finnish diskursiivinen, diskursiivinen
- diskursiivinentending to digress from the main point; rambling
- diskursiivinenusing reason and argument rather than intuition
French discursif, discursif
- discursiftending to digress from the main point; rambling
- discursifusing reason and argument rather than intuition
Greek ασυνάρτητος, αμετροεπής
- ασυνάρτητος (asynártitos)tending to digress from the main point; rambling
- αμετροεπής (ametroepís)tending to digress from the main point; rambling
- πλατειαστικός (plateiastikós)tending to digress from the main point; rambling
- διαλογικός (dialogikós)using reason and argument rather than intuition
- έλλογος (éllogos)using reason and argument rather than intuition
Swedish diskursiv
- diskursivusing reason and argument rather than intuition
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with discursive
Cite this entry
discursive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/discursive
“discursive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/discursive. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “discursive,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/discursive.
Source: discursive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.