Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Tending to depart from the main point or cover a wide range of subjects: Used to describe speech, writing, or thought that moves from one topic to another in a way that seems lengthy and not strictly focused on a central point.
   • Proceeding to a conclusion by reason or argument rather than intuition: Used in philosophy or formal reasoning to describe a method of thinking that advances logically through a series of connected points.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The professor's lecture was interesting but highly discursive, touching on history, art, and economics before returning to the core topic.
  • Her essay was criticized for being too discursive and lacking a clear thesis statement.
  • In his discursive style, the author explores the many cultural influences on the city's development.

Advanced Usage

• "Discursive formation": A term in critical theory (associated with Michel Foucault) referring to a system of statements, practices, and institutions that produces knowledge and meaning within a particular historical period.

  • The study analyzed the discursive formation surrounding mental health in the 19th century.

• "Discursive psychology": A branch of psychology that studies how psychological phenomena are constructed and understood within everyday language and conversation.

  • Discursive psychology focuses on how accounts of memory are built in talk.

Variants and Related Words

• Discursively (adverb): In a discursive manner.

  • He wrote discursively, allowing his thoughts to wander across related themes.

• Discursiveness (noun): The quality of being discursive.

  • The discursiveness of the novel makes it a challenging but rewarding read.

Synonyms

• Digressive: Straying from the main topic.
• Rambling: Lengthy and confused or inconsequential.
• Meandering: Following a winding course; not direct.
• Circumlocutory: Using many words where fewer would do, especially in a deliberate attempt to be vague or evasive.
• Expository (in the logical sense): Intended to explain or describe something.

Antonyms

• Concise: Giving a lot of information clearly and in a few words.
• Succinct: Briefly and clearly expressed.
• Focused: Concentrated on a particular subject.
• Intuitive (in the philosophical sense): Using or based on what one feels to be true even without conscious reasoning.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• "To go off on a discursive tangent": To start discussing a subject that is different from the main subject being discussed.
  • Every time he tells a story, he goes off on a discursive tangent about his childhood.

Adjective

1. (of e.g. speech and writing) tending to depart from the main point or cover a wide range of subjects
   • amusingly digressive with satirical thrusts at women's fashions among other things
   • a rambling discursive book
   • his excursive remarks
   • a rambling speech about this and that
2. proceeding to a conclusion by reason or argument rather than intuition