parentheses

NOUN

digression

Synonyms

STRONG

apostrophe aside deflection departure detour deviation difference divagation divergence divergency diversion drifting episode excursion excursus footnote incident irrelevancy note tangent variation wandering

WEAK

discursion obiter dictum rambling

Antonyms

STRONG

accord agreement conformity sameness similarity uniformity

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It’s less jarring than parentheses but a bigger interruption than commas.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 20, 2025

They are listed in ascending order of their trailing-month returns, which are displayed in the parentheses.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 10, 2025

One of those descriptions included in “UCLA vs USC” in parentheses.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 12, 2025

Unlike periods and commas, em dashes aren’t integral to sentence structure; they’re a considered choice that can, but by no means have to, take the place of commas, parentheses and semicolons.

From Salon • Jun. 11, 2025

This is one of the things I wasn’t prepared for — the amount of unfilled time, the long parentheses of nothing.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood