tangential
tan-JEN-shuladjMeaning only slightly connected to the main point; going off the topic
Memory hook TANGENT: touches the topic, then shoots OFF. Professor Edwin starts the history lesson, then shoots off: “…which reminds me of my cat, who once…” His story is tangential.
The speaker’s tangential story about his cat had nothing to do with the budget.
In context Asked about his science project, Kai gave a tangential answer: he started with the volcano model but soon wandered off into a story about his summer vacation.
Similar digressive, off-topic, irrelevant, peripheral
Opposite relevant, central, pertinent
From tangent, a line that touches a circle at one point and then goes off on its own, from Latin tangere, “to touch.”