discursive •\dis-ˈkər-siv\• adjective 1. (of e.g. speech and writing) tending to depart from the main point or cover a wide range of subjects 2. proceeding to a conclusion by reason or argument rather than intuition The word discursive has appeared in 40 New York Times articles in the past year, including on Oct. 21 in the Sunday Book Review "Breeding Ground" by Sonia Shah: A vivid and erudite nature writer, Quammen is even better as a cheeky and incisive chronicler of the scientific method. He describes a scientist's archive of dried blood samples as "DNA jerky," a genetic sequence as a "choking expletive" and protective gear for fieldwork as "gleaming white footie pajamas." His leisurely, discursive style, which worked so well in his books on biogeography and top predators, can feel a bit incongruous given the urgency of his topic, though. Dramatic narrations of outbreaks and scientific investigations - replete with regularly scheduled cliffhangers - turn out to be inconclusive, debunked or tangential to the central themes of the book. Whole paragraphs are taken up with lists of minutiae, like one that enumerates the gear he takes on a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, including "seven stackable white plastic chairs" and "medical gloves." Quammen doesn't mind repeating himself (he admits it outright, and yes, repeatedly) and can't resist detours into side obsessions, like taxonomy. But even when his writing is not entirely germane, it's almost always fun and morbidly entertaining. Learn more about the word "discursive" and see usage examples across a range of subjects on the Vocabulary dictionary.