digressiveness

8.9

A habit of leaving the main subject to talk about other things

noun
/daɪˈɡrɛsɪvnəs/

Formal

: digresividad

The digressiveness of his essay made it challenging to follow the main argument.

Examples

In some novels, deliberate digressiveness adds depth to the narration.
His digressiveness during the lecture annoyed the students.
Her lectures were marked by a certain digressiveness, often leading to unexpected subjects.
The author's digressiveness made the book hard to follow.
The professor's digressiveness often led his students to lose track of the lecture.
Her digressiveness during the presentation made it difficult for the audience to follow her main point.
His tendency toward digressiveness meant that meetings frequently ran longer than scheduled.

Synonyms

discursiveness

vsdigressiveness

Formal

1 9.1

Talking or writing that moves between subjects and often wanders

is about leaving the main subject rather than presenting step by step reasoning

divagation

vsdigressiveness

Archaic

1 9.9

A short move away from the main topic in speech or writing

is the tendency to depart specifically from a main subject or topic

Antonyms

focus

∞ 3.5

Close attention to one subject or activity

relevance

99 3.4

A close connection to what is being discussed

How Digressive

rambling

10 5.5

digressiveness

Formal

8.9

concentration

110 3.3

Surface Forms

digressiveness singular

digressivenesses plural

Morphology

digressiveness = digressive (transparent) = digress + ive + ness

Standard noun formation from the adjective 'digressive' using '-ness' to denote the quality; the step is regular and meaning-preserving.

Etymology

Digressiveness comes from Latin parts dis- 'apart' and gress 'step', the same root you see in progress ('step forward'). So digressiveness is like 'stepping away' from the main subject, which is why it means a tendency to leave the main topic.