other-directed
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of other-directed
First recorded in 1945–50
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
John Keats couldn’t have better described a woman whose love is true, headlong, self-emptying and completely other-directed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
Wonder is other-directed and brings with it the possibility of love, of willing the good of the other.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025
She was so other-directed that she was unable to manage her time well, always felt "overwhelmed" and was totally unable to see the big picture and think strategically.
From New York Times ● Mar. 27, 2013
Grant is the ultimate other-directed figure, who wants to be loved rather than esteemed, while Firth is inner-directed and looks back to a much older, more grounded tradition.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 25, 2010
If the reader recoils from the other-directed man and cannot go back to inner-direction, where can he turn in search of morality and freedom in personal life or in politics?
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
