indirect [in-duh -rekt , -dahy-]
Synonyms Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for indirect on Thesaurus.com not in a direct course or path; deviating from a straight line; roundabout: an indirect course in sailing. coming or resulting otherwise than directly or immediately, as effects or consequences: an indirect advantage. not direct in action or procedure: His methods are indirect but not dishonest. not straightforward; devious; deceitful: He is known as a shady, indirect fellow. not direct in bearing, application, force, etc.: indirect evidence. of, relating to, or characteristic of indirect discourse : an indirect quote. not descending in a direct line of succession, as a title or inheritance. Show More
Origin of indirect First recorded in
1350–1400; Middle English word from
Medieval Latin word
indīrēctus. See
in-3 ,
direct Related forms in·di·rect·ly , adverb in·di·rect·ness , noun sem·i-in·di·rect , adjective sem·i-in·di·rect·ly , adverb sem·i-in·di·rect·ness , noun Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for indirect ambiguous ,
tortuous ,
oblique ,
incidental ,
implied ,
ancillary ,
circuitous ,
collateral ,
circular ,
complicated ,
contingent ,
crooked ,
devious ,
discursive ,
duplicitous ,
erratic ,
eventual ,
long ,
long-winded ,
meandering Examples from the Web for indirect Contemporary Examples of indirect Living with the threat of random death raining down leads to a strange way of life, a pathology of indirect fire.
Instead, officials are musing about indirect sources of supply, by and through third countries.
And the new channels tend to be underground, indirect , and unaccountable.
The Saudis don't want an open break with Washington, so their critique is indirect .
Police arrested Brooks under a little-known Nevada law that prohibits threats, direct or indirect , against a public officer.
Historical Examples of indirect Then here is indirect heredity, that of the collateral branches.
Do not grudge labour where the return may be remote and indirect .
The lights which he throws on his subject are indirect , but they are not the less real for that.
Moreover the science has indirect effects, which are not small.
It would be difficult, however, to overestimate its indirect consequences.
British Dictionary definitions for indirect deviating from a direct course or line; roundabout; circuitous not coming as a direct effect or consequence; secondary indirect benefits not straightforward, open, or fair; devious or evasive an indirect insult (of a title or an inheritance) not inherited in an unbroken line of succession from father to son Show More
Derived Forms indirectly , adverb indirectness , noun Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for indirect adj. late 14c., from Middle French indirect (14c.) or directly from Late Latin indirectus , from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + directus (see direct ). Related: Indirectness .
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
