indirect

Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Financial, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

Related to indirect: Indirect costs, Indirect proof, indirect speech

in·di·rect

(ĭn′dĭ-rĕkt′, -dī-)

adj.

1. Diverging from a direct course; roundabout.

a. Not proceeding straight to the point or object.

b. Not forthright and candid; devious.

3. Not directly planned for; secondary: indirect benefits.

4. Reporting the exact or approximate words of another with such changes as are necessary to bring the original statement into grammatical conformity with the sentence in which it is included: indirect discourse.

5. Logic Involving, relating to, or being the proof of a statement by the demonstration of the impossibility or absurdity of the statement's negation.

6. Sports Being an indirect free kick.

in′di·rect′ly adv.

in′di·rect′ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

indirect

(ˌɪndɪˈrɛkt)

adj

1. deviating from a direct course or line; roundabout; circuitous

2. not coming as a direct effect or consequence; secondary: indirect benefits.

3. not straightforward, open, or fair; devious or evasive: an indirect insult.

4. (of a title or an inheritance) not inherited in an unbroken line of succession from father to son

ˌindiˈrectly adv

ˌindiˈrectness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

in•di•rect

(ˌɪn dəˈrɛkt, -daɪ-)

adj.

1. deviating from a straight line, as a path.

2. not resulting directly or immediately, as effects or consequences.

3. not direct in action or procedure.

4. devious; not straightforward.

5. not direct in bearing, application, force, etc.: indirect evidence.

6. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of indirect speech.

7. not descending in a direct line of succession, as a title or inheritance.

[1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin]

in`di•rect′ly, adv.

in`di•rect′ness, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Adj.	1.	indirect - having intervening factors or persons or influences; "reflection from the ceiling provided a soft indirect light"; "indirect evidence"; "an indirect cause" mediate - acting through or dependent on an intervening agency; "the disease spread by mediate as well as direct contact"
	2.	indirect - not direct in spatial dimension; not leading by a straight line or course to a destination; "sometimes taking an indirect path saves time"; "you must take an indirect course in sailing" crooked - having or marked by bends or angles; not straight or aligned; "crooked country roads"; "crooked teeth" direct - direct in spatial dimensions; proceeding without deviation or interruption; straight and short; "a direct route"; "a direct flight"; "a direct hit"
	3.	indirect - descended from a common ancestor but through different lines; "cousins are collateral relatives"; "an indirect descendant of the Stuarts" collateral related - connected by kinship, common origin, or marriage
	4.	indirect - extended senses; not direct in manner or language or behavior or action; "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" direct - straightforward in means or manner or behavior or language or action; "a direct question"; "a direct response"; "a direct approach"
	5.	indirect - not as a direct effect or consequence; "indirect benefits"; "an indirect advantage" secondary - being of second rank or importance or value; not direct or immediate; "the stone will be hauled to a secondary crusher"; "a secondary source"; "a secondary issue"; "secondary streams"

indirect

adjective

1. related, accompanying, secondary, subsidiary, contingent, collateral, incidental, unintended, ancillary, concomitant They are feeling the indirect effects of the recession elsewhere.

2. circuitous, winding, roundabout, curving, wandering, rambling, deviant, meandering, tortuous, zigzag, long-drawn-out, circumlocutory The goods went by a rather indirect route.
circuitous direct, straight, straightforward, uninterrupted, undeviating

3. oblique, implied, roundabout, backhanded, evasive, circuitous, sidelong, circumlocutory, periphrastic His remarks amounted to an indirect appeal for aid.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

indirect

adjective

1. Not taking a direct or straight line or course:

anfractuous, circuitous, circular, devious, oblique, roundabout, tortuous.

2. Marked by treachery or deceit:

devious, disingenuous, duplicitous, guileful, lubricious, shifty, sneaky, underhand, underhanded.

Translations

غَيْرُ مُبَاشِرٌغَيْر مُباشِرغَيْر مُسْتَقيمغَيْر مُوَجَّه إلى، غَيْر مُباشِر

nepřímýnezamýšlenývedlejšívyhýbavý

indirektebi-

indirekt nicht direkt

έμμεσος

indirecto

epäsuora

indirect détourné

neizravan

közvetett

óbeinnóbeinn; krókaleiîóheiîarlegur; loîin svör

indiretto mediato

間接的な

간접의

netiesioginė kalbanetiesioginis papildinysnetiesumas

aplinku-izvairīgsnetiešs

posreden

indirekt

ไม่ตรง

dolaylı kaçamaklıamaçlanmamışdolambaçlı

gián tiếp

间接的不直截了当的迂回的

indirect

[ˌɪndɪˈrekt]

A. ADJ [route, criticism, result, costs] → indirecto
in an indirect way → de una forma indirecta

B. CPD indirect lighting N → iluminación f indirecta
indirect object N (Gram) → objeto m or complemento m indirecto
indirect question N (Gram) → oración f interrogativa indirecta
indirect speech N (Gram) → estilo m indirecto
indirect tax N → impuesto m indirecto

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

indirect

[ˌɪndaɪˈrɛkt ˌɪndəˈrɛkt] adj

[result, effect] → indirect(e)

[route, flight] → indirect(e)

[answer] → indirect(e)
indirect reference → allusion f voiléeindirect discourse (US) n (GRAMMAR) → discours m indirect

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

indirect

adj

→ indirekt; consequence, result → indirekt, mittelbar; in an indirect way, by indirect means → auf indirekte Weise, auf Umwegen; by an indirect route/path/road → auf Umwegen or einem Umweg; to make an indirect reference to somebody/something → auf jdn/etw anspielen or indirekt Bezug nehmen

(Gram) → indirekt

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

indirect

[ˌɪndɪˈrɛkt] adj (gen) (Gram) → indiretto/a; (road, route, answer) → non diretto/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

indirect

(indiˈrekt) adjective

1. not leading straight to the destination; not direct. We arrived late because we took rather an indirect route.

2. not straightforward. I asked her several questions but she kept giving me indirect answers.

3. not intended; not directly aimed at. an indirect result.

ˌindiˈrectness noun

indirect object

the word in a sentence which stands for the person or thing to or for whom something is given, done etc. In `Give me the book', `Tell the children a story', `Boil John an egg', me, the children and John are indirect objects.

indirect speech

a person's words as they are reported rather than in the form in which they were said. He said that he would come is the form in indirect speech of He said `I will come'.

indirect

→ غَيْرُ مُبَاشِرٌ nepřímý indirekte indirekt έμμεσος indirecto epäsuora indirect neizravan indiretto 間接的な 간접의 indirect indirekte pośredni indireto непрямой indirekt ไม่ตรง dolaylı gián tiếp 间接的

indirect

a. indirecto-a;

___ fracture → fractura ___;

___ hemagglutination test → prueba de hemaglutinación ___;

___ immunofluorescence → inmunofluorescencia ___;

___ laryngoscopy → laringoscopía ___;

___ nuclear division → división nuclear ___;

___ reacting bilirubine → bilirubina reactiva ___;

___ transfusion → transfusión ___;

___ vision → visión ___.

References in classic literature ?

To ensure that your whole host may withstand the brunt of the enemy's attack and remain unshaken-- this is effected by maneuvers direct and indirect.

View in context

In so opulent a nation as that of Britain, where direct taxes from superior wealth must be much more tolerable, and, from the vigor of the government, much more practicable, than in America, far the greatest part of the national revenue is derived from taxes of the indirect kind, from imposts, and from excises.

View in context

It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast."

View in context

I have no wish to intrude on your private affairs; I have no wish to write a word which could be construed into any indirect reflection on yourself.

View in context

The old man made this trivial remark, thinking it better not to respond at all to Adam's agitation: he would gather, in an indirect way, that there was nothing decisive to communicate at present.

View in context

In either of these cases the prisoner's Declaration of his innocence would claim the support of testimony, which, however indirect it might be, no honest and intelligent men would be likely to resist.

View in context

"Still," said the captain, "I would not make myself known abruptly, but in some indirect way."

View in context

Nor, in many cases, can such an adjustment be made at all without taking into view indirect and remote considerations, which will rarely prevail over the immediate interest which one party may find in disregarding the rights of another or the good of the whole.

View in context

To the descend ant of a line of soldiers, commerce, even in that indirect manner, seemed a degrading pursuit; but an insuperable obstacle to the disclosure existed in the prejudices of his father

View in context

The only course is to try by all means, direct and indirect, to moderate and vary his occupations.

View in context

That, perhaps, is what we might naturally expect; the more, in proportion as the dramatic art is a matter in which many very subtle and indirect channels to men's sympathy are called into play.

View in context

The great chest in the bottom of Rajah Muda Saffir's prahu had awakened in other hearts as well as his, blind greed and avarice; so that as it had been the indirect cause of his disaster it now proved the incentive to another to turn the mishap to his own profit, and to the final undoing of the Malay.