direct address

American  

noun

1. Grammar. the use of a term or name for the person spoken to, as in securing the attention of that person; use of a vocative form.

2. Computers. indirect address

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Example Sentences

The direct address monologues, Lyons stresses, should have “a stand-up comedy feel to them. In these moments the audience is no longer a spectator, but an active participant in the story.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 8, 2025

“Primary Trust” moves between Kenneth’s direct address narration and loose-limbed dramatization.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 8, 2024

What decisions did you make about using metatextual qualities and visual style and using direct address and other gimmicks to hold the viewer’s hand through the film?

From Salon • Oct. 26, 2023

“Today I initiated a phone call with the president of the Russian Federation,” Zelensky said in a direct address to the Russian people he gave on the eve of the war.

From Washington Post • Feb. 22, 2023

Sometimes a noun or a pronoun is used in direct address or in an exclamation, without having any grammatical relation to the rest of the sentence.

From Business English A Practice Book by Buhlig, Rose