digress means to step or turn aside; to deviate; to swerve; especially, to turn aside from the main subject of attention, or course of argument, in writing or speaking. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 73 out of 100.
digress is pronounced /daɪˈɡɹɛs/.
Why “digress” is a great word
DIGRESS — [Verb] To deviate from the main subject temporarily in speech or writing. From Latin digressus, past participle of digredi ("to go aside, depart"), from dis- ("apart, aside") + gradi ("to step, go"). Unlike recur, which implies a dutiful circling back, or deviate, a clinical term for any swerve, to digress is to take a sanctioned, often graceful, detour. It is the professor’s fond recollection of a Parisian bookstore mid-lecture on tax law, the essayist’s footnote blooming into a dissertation on swallows, or the conversation sparked by a broken appliance meandering through a dozen shared memories—a testament that we are often most ourselves when we lose the thread, for the straight path is seldom where meaning resides.
verb
- To step or turn aside; to deviate; to swerve; especially, to turn aside from the main subject of attention, or course of argument, in writing or speaking.“Moreover she beginneth to digress in latitude.”
- To turn aside from the right path; to transgress; to offend.“Thy overflow of good converts to bad;
And thy abundant goodness shall excuse
This deadly blot in thy digressing son.”