digress
di·gress/daɪˈɡɹɛs/verb
digress is spelled D-I-G-R-E-S-S: 7 letters and 2 syllables (di·gress). It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,863rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, 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…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in digress?
| Letters | 7: D-I-G-R-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: di·gress |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 38,863rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is digress?
Digress appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,863rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce digress?
- /daɪˈɡɹɛs/
- /dɪˈɡɹɛs/
Digress has 2 syllables, split di·gress in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-digress.ogg, En-au-digress.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of digress
- digresses present, singular, he/she/it
- digressing participle, present
- digressed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does digress mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
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.
- 2
To turn aside from the right path; to transgress; to offend.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Digress in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to deviate – see also go off on a tangent, deviate:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | s'écarter, dévier, digresser |
| German | abgehen, abschweifen, ausschweifen |
| Portuguese | divagar |
| Spanish | irse por una digresión/disquisición, divagar, elucubrar, prolijear |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does digress come from?
From Latin digressum, past participle of digredi.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).