indirect discourse

[ in-di-rekt-dis-kawrs ]

/ ˈɪn dɪˈrɛkt ˈdɪs kɔrs /

Save This Word!

noun

the reporting of what a speaker said consisting not of the speaker's exact words but of a version transformed for grammatical inclusion in a larger sentence, as in She said she was not at all hungry.

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Question 1 of 8

Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?

navy

beryl

azure

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Also called in·di·rect speech [in-di-rekt-speech], /ˈɪn dɪˈrɛkt ˈspitʃ/, re·port·ed speech [ri-pawr-tid speech] /rɪˈpɔr tɪd ˈspitʃ/ .

Compare direct discourse.

Origin of indirect discourse

First recorded in 1845–50

Words nearby indirect discourse

indirect, indirect address, indirect characterization, indirect cost, indirect costs, indirect discourse, indirect evidence, indirect fracture, indirect free kick, indirect hemagglutination test, indirect initiative

How to use indirect discourse in a sentence

His discourse is now more detailed: submission, which is the meaning of islam in Arabic, gives him a kind of enjoyment.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President|Pierre Assouline|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Great American leaders have long contributed profound thoughts of tremendous consequence to the public discourse.
Huckabee 2016: Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner!|Olivia Nuzzi|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
And his pitiless beliefs would be no stranger to the political discourse of today.
How Dickens and Scrooge Saved Christmas|Clive Irving|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The dire fatalism that dominated the discourse then is gone, replaced largely with a practiced apathy.
Heart of Darkness: Into Afghanistan’s Taliban Valley|Matt Trevithick, Daniel Seckman|November 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Read today, the speech still vibrates with a passionate intensity rarely found in any contemporary political discourse.
Remembering Reagan’s Defining Speech|Stuart Stevens|October 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But to wave this discourse of Heathens, how many self-contradicting principles are there held among Christians?
The Life and Most Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner (1801)|Daniel Defoe
In such cases, Synthesis, which is taught hereafter, develops an indirect relation.
Assimilative Memory|Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)
Indirect lighting gave a pretty gleam to the metal gadgets on the tables.
Fee of the Frontier|Horace Brown Fyfe
Not a bit of it, replied the Dodger, stopping the subject of discourse as Mr. Chitling was about to reply.
Oliver Twist, Vol. II (of 3)|Charles Dickens
Then they learn to discourse eloquently on the benefits of commerce, whilst in reality they are completely indifferent to it.
Skipper Worse|Alexander Lange Kielland