INDIRECT
Dictionary entry overview: What does indirect mean?
• INDIRECT (adjective)
The adjective INDIRECT has 5 senses:
1. having intervening factors or persons or influences
2. not direct in spatial dimension; not leading by a straight line or course to a destination
3. descended from a common ancestor but through different lines
4. extended senses; not direct in manner or language or behavior or action
5. not as a direct effect or consequence
Familiarity information: INDIRECT used as an adjective is common.
Dictionary entry details
• INDIRECT (adjective)
Meaning:
Having intervening factors or persons or influences
Context examples:
reflection from the ceiling provided a soft indirect light / indirect evidence / an indirect cause
Similar:
mediate (acting through or dependent on an intervening agency)
Meaning:
Not direct in spatial dimension; not leading by a straight line or course to a destination
Context examples:
sometimes taking an indirect path saves time / you must take an indirect course in sailing
Similar:
askance; askant; asquint; sidelong; squint; squint-eyed; squinty ((used especially of glances) directed to one side with or as if with doubt or suspicion or envy)
circuitous; devious; roundabout (deviating from a straight course)
diversionary ((of tactics e.g.) likely or designed to confuse or deceive)
meandering; rambling; wandering; winding (of a path e.g.)
Also:
crooked (having or marked by bends or angles; not straight or aligned)
Attribute:
directness; straightness (trueness of course toward a goal)
Antonym:
direct (direct in spatial dimensions; proceeding without deviation or interruption; straight and short)
Meaning:
Descended from a common ancestor but through different lines
Synonyms:
collateral; indirect
Context examples:
cousins are collateral relatives / an indirect descendant of the Stuarts
Also:
related (connected by kinship, common origin, or marriage)
Meaning:
Extended senses; not direct in manner or language or behavior or action
Context examples:
making indirect but legitimate inquiries / an indirect insult / doubtless they had some indirect purpose in mind / though his methods are indirect they are not dishonest / known as a shady indirect fellow
Similar:
tortuous (not straightforward)
mealy-mouthed; mealymouthed (hesitant to state facts or opinions simply and directly as from e.g. timidity or hypocrisy)
hearsay (heard through another rather than directly)
digressive; discursive; excursive; rambling ((of e.g. speech and writing) tending to depart from the main point or cover a wide range of subjects)
devious; oblique (indirect in departing from the accepted or proper way; misleading)
ambagious; circumlocutious; circumlocutory; periphrastic (roundabout and unnecessarily wordy)
circuitous; roundabout (marked by obliqueness or indirection in speech or conduct)
backhanded (roundabout or ambiguous)
allusive (characterized by indirect references)
Antonym:
direct (extended senses; direct in means or manner or behavior or language or action)
Meaning:
Not as a direct effect or consequence
Context examples:
indirect benefits / an indirect advantage
Similar:
secondary (being of second rank or importance or value; not direct or immediate)
