indirect en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ˌɪn.dɪˈɹɛkt/ (Canada, General-American)
- /ˌɪn.dəˈɹɛkt/ (Canada, General-American)
- /ˌɪn.daɪˈɹɛkt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˌɪn.dɪˈɹekt/ (Australia)
- /ˌɪn.dɪˈɹɛkt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˌɪn.dɑɪˈɹekt/ (Australia)
- /ˌɪn.daɪˈɹɛkt/ (Canada, General-American)
Etymology
From Middle French indirect, from Late Latin indirectus (“not direct”).
Meanings
-
Not direct
Indirect messages permit communicative contacts when, without them, the alternatives would be total inhibition, silence, and solitude on the one hand, or, on the other, communicative behavior that is direct, offensive, and hence forbidden. This is a painful choice. In actual practice, neither alternative is likely to result in the gratification of personal or sexual needs. In this dilemma, indirect communications provide a useful compromise. As an early move in the dating game, the young man might invite the young woman to dinner or to the movies.
1974, Thomas S. Szasz, M.D., chapter 8, in The Myth of Mental Illness, →ISBN, pages 139–140:While not mentioning any of their competitors by name, the CEO made some indirect statements that they were acting immorally.
Se asked him some indirect questions to ascertain whether he was single.
-
Not direct: ▸ Not of obvious or immediate cause, but as a secondary result.
The direct result of socialising every day in the bars may be happiness and meeting new people, but the indirect results could be addiction, or even poverty.
- Not direct: ▸ Not focused straight at the target or subject; whose true aim appears secondary or obscure.
-
Not direct: ▸ Not involving the quickest, shortest, or most convenient path; oblique.
In an effort to beat the traffic jams, they opted to take an indirect route to their destination.
- (of a proof) Not direct: ▸ Employing argument by contradiction; making use the law of the excluded middle; arguing via the contrapositive.
- Figuratively
-
(archaic) Figuratively ▸ Not straightforward, fair, or honest; corrupt.
Did you, by indirect, and forced courſes / Subdue, and poyſon this tong Maides affections? / Or came it by requeſt, and ſuch faire queſtion / As ſoule, to ſoule affordeth?
c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], page 312, column 2:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more indirect | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most indirect | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Deriveds
indirectly · indirect free kick · indirect kiss · indirect transitive · indirectivity · indirect maternal death · indirect realism · indirect fire · indirect tax · indirect dye · indirect democracy · indirect cost · indirect procurement · indirect discourse · indirect red card · indirect anagram · indirect object · indirect report · free indirect style · indirectness · indirect question · free indirect discourse · indirect election · indirect quotation · indirect speech · indirect predation
Relateds
Synonyms
circuitous · circuitous · circuitous · circuitous · circuitous · roundabout
Translations (29)
de indirekt (not direct) · hu közvetett (not direct) · nl onrechtstreeks (not direct) · fi epäsuora (not direct) · pt indireto (not direct) · az dolayı (not direct) · sk nepriamy (not direct) · kw andhidro (not direct) · el έμμεσος (not direct) · ru ко́свенный (not direct) · hu indirekt (not direct) · fr indirect (not direct) · it indiretto (not direct) · cy anuniongyrchol (not direct) · bg непряк (not direct) · mi porowhawhe (not direct) · cmn 間接 /间接 (not direct) · eo nerekta (not direct) · ca indirecte (not direct) · bg косвен (not direct) · ru непрямо́й (not direct) · gl indirecto (not direct) · cs nepřímý (not direct) · pl pośredni (not direct) · tr dolaylı (not direct) · fi välillinen (not direct) · la obliquus (not direct) · nl indirect (not direct) · es indirecto (not direct)