Today's Word

Tangential

tan-JEN-shul

Definition

(adjective) Only loosely or indirectly related to the main subject.
Touching but not intersecting, as in geometry.

Example

His speech was supposed to be about climate change, but he kept making tangential remarks about his vacation.

Fun Fact

“Tangential” comes from the mathematical concept of a tangent—a line that touches a curve but doesn’t cross it. This idea transferred into everyday language to describe conversations or thoughts that briefly “touch” the main topic but then veer off in a different direction. If you’ve ever had a conversation that started about weekend plans and ended up on childhood memories of ice cream, you’ve experienced the power of tangential thinking!

Previous Words

Parsimonious

Today's Word

Parsimonious

par-sih-MOH-nee-us

Definition

(adjective) Unwilling to spend money or use resources; extremely frugal to the point of stinginess.

Example

He was so parsimonious that he kept the thermostat at 58 degrees all winter and wore two sweaters instead.

Word Origin

From Latin parsimonia, meaning “frugality” or “thrift,” derived from parcere (“to spare, be sparing”). The word entered English in the 15th century through Old French. Its Latin root is also the ancestor of “sparse” — both words carry the idea of deliberate scarcity.

Fun Fact

“Parsimonious” has a philosophical sibling: Occam’s Razor — the principle that the simplest explanation is usually correct — is sometimes called the “principle of parsimony.” In science, parsimony means elegance and economy of explanation, which is considered a virtue. So the same word that describes a miser hoarding his pennies also describes one of the most respected principles in logic and scientific reasoning — the idea that less, truly, is more.

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Tangential

Definition

Example

Previous Words

Parsimonious

Parsimonious

Definition

Example

Word Origin

Parsimonious

Effervescent

Facetious

Capricious

Sedulous