indirectionn.
/ˌɪndᵻˈrɛkʃn/, /ˌɪndʌɪˈrɛkʃn/, U.S. /ˌɪndəˈrɛkʃən/, /ˌɪnˌdaɪˈrɛkʃən/ 1.
a. Indirect movement or action; a devious or circuitous course to some end; round-about means or method. by indirection, by indirect means, indirectly.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > hint or covert suggestion > [adverb]
by indirection1603
involvedly1624
allusively1656
suggestingly1840
hintedly1846
suggestively1859
hintingly1892
1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet ii. i. 65 Thus sir do wee..By indirections, finde directions forth.
1634 J. Ford Chron. Hist. Perkin Warbeck iii. sig. F4 If King Iames By any indirection should perceiue My comming nere your Court, I doubt the issue Of my imployment.
1673 tr. E. de Refuge Art of Complaisance 73 These were the effects of real merit and virtue, which still sheds a luster on the rest, and not of indirection.
1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits xiii. 211 Oxford also has its merits... Whether in course or by indirection,..education according to the English notion of it is arrived at.
1879 J. Burroughs Locusts & Wild Honey 80 The weather is..to be..understood, not by rule, but by subtle signs and indirections.
1888 Q. Rev. Oct. 407 As is always the case with good critics, Mr. Arnold worked more by indirection and suggestion than by sheer delivery of judgment.
b. In literal sense: An indirect or devious way.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > [noun] > roundabout or indirect
bouta1542
round1600
circumduction1822
indirection1858
1858 N. Hawthorne Fr. & Ital. Jrnls. (1872) I. 16 Through some other indirections we at last found the Rue Bergère.
2. Want of straightforwardness in action; an act, or practice, which is not straightforward and honest; deceit; malpractice.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > crookedness > [noun]
crookednessc1380
deformityc1400
turningnessa1586
indirectiona1616
obliquitya1620
curvity1620
tortuosity1621
indirectness1628
unsinglenessa1658
unstraightness1693
tortuousness1824
underhandedness1884
society > morality > moral evil > lack of principle or integrity > [noun] > lack of straightforwardness or uprightness
crookednessc1380
turningnessa1586
indirectiona1616
obliquitya1620
curvity1620
tortuosity1621
indirectness1628
unuprightnessa1680
unstraightness1693
deviousness1727
tortuousness1824
obliqueness1877
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iii. i. 202 The better Act of purposes mistooke, Is to mistake again, though indirect, Yet indirection thereby growes direct, And falshood, falshood cures. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iv. ii. 130 To wring From the hard hands of Peazants, their vile trash By any indirection . View more context for this quotation
1710 Tatler No. 191. ⁋1 The Indirection and Artifice which is used among Men.
1834 M. Edgeworth Helen I. x. 230 To no vile indirections will I stoop.
1895 Rev. of Reviews Aug. 138 He hated diplomatic indirections, or, to speak bluntly, lying.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1603- to get foot
- to get forth
- to get forward
- to get free
- to get fresh
- to get fresh with someone
- to get from
- to get gay
- to get ghost
- to get go off on one's ear
- to get go while the getting is good
- to get going
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- to get gyp
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- to get hip to something