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Glite Dictionary
to divagate

to divagate

1 9.9
To wander away from the main subject when speaking or writing
  • verb
  • /ˈdaɪvəˌɡeɪt/
  • Archaic
: divagar
  • During the lecture, he tended to divagate from the main topic, leaving the audience confused.

Examples

  • As the meeting progressed, he started to divagate into unrelated issues, wasting valuable time.

  • While telling a story, she began to divagate and lost track of the original point.

  • They have their own complex social system and hierarchies, into which I will not divagate.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • The divagating character

    Academic text (2007)

Synonyms

to wander
vsto divagate
59 3.3

Lose focus or go off the main subject

covers both deliberate and aimless straying of attention or speech
to digress
vsto divagate
21 6.8

To start talking about something else for a short time

is a broader wandering not limited to temporary departures
to stray
vsto divagate
19 4.0

To move away from the main topic when speaking or writing

is a more general form of wandering from a topic rather than a simple move away
to fly off at a tangent
vsto divagate
  • Informal
1 8.9

To suddenly start talking about a different subject

is a general or slower drifting away from topic rather than a sudden shift

Antonyms

to stay on track
14 3.2

To focus on a goal without getting distracted

How Tangential

to fly off at a tangent
  • Informal
1 8.9
to ramble
  • Informal
51 5.3
to divagate
  • Archaic
1 9.9
to digress
21 6.8
to wander
59 3.3
to drift
265 2.9

Surface Forms

divagate infinitive
divagated past
divagated past participle
divagating present participle
divagates third person singular

Morphology

divagate = dis + vag + ate

Although historically analyzable as dis- (away) + vag- (wander) + -ate, the components are not productive or recognizable to average learners, so the meaning cannot be reliably derived from the parts.

Etymology

The word divagate comes from the Latin parts di- ('apart') and vagari ('to wander'), the same root you can see in vagrant and vagabond. So, to divagate is to 'wander away' from the main subject in speech, writing, or thought.