discursive.

1. Moving from topic to topic rather than following a narrowly direct course.

2. Proceeding through sequential reasoning or concepts rather than immediate intuition.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• discursive prose
• a discursive conversation

On the page

The discursive conversation returned to the missing letter after touching on the whole family history.

She gave the discursive essay a clearer spine without stripping away its discoveries.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary. Forms: Comparative more discursive; superlative most discursive where gradation is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.