| Meaning | Extended senses; not direct in manner or language or behavior or action. |
|---|
| Examples | - "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"
|
|---|
| Narrower | allusive | Characterized by indirect references |
|---|
| backhanded | roundabout or ambiguous |
| circuitous, roundabout | marked by obliqueness or indirection in speech or conduct |
| circumlocutious, circumlocutory, periphrastic, ambagious | roundabout and unnecessarily wordy |
| devious, oblique | indirect in departing from the accepted or proper way |
| digressive, discursive, excursive, rambling | (of e.g. speech / speech and writing) tending to depart from the main point or cover a wide range of subjects |
| hearsay | heard through another rather than directly |
| mealymouthed, mealy-mouthed | hesitant to state facts or opinions simply and directly as from e.g. timidity or hypocrisy |
| tortuous | not straightforward |
| Opposite | direct | Straightforward in means or manner or behavior or language or action |
|---|
| Spanish | indirecto |
|---|
| Adverbs | indirectly | not in a forthright manner |
|---|
