indirect

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indirect

/ˌɪn.daɪˈɹɛkt/ UK
/ˌɪn.dɪˈɹɛkt/ UK
/ˌɪn.dɪˈɹɛkt/ Canada, US
/ˌɪn.dəˈɹɛkt/ Canada, US
/ˌɪn.daɪˈɹɛkt/ Canada, US
/ˌɪn.dɪˈɹekt/ Australia
/ˌɪn.dɑɪˈɹekt/ Australia

Rhymes with -ɛkt

Where it comes from

From Middle French indirect, from Late Latin indirectus (“not direct”).

adjective more indirect · most indirect

Not direct While not mentioning any of their competitors by name, the CEO made some indirect statements that they were acting immorally.
Similar: circuitous
Not of obvious or immediate cause, but as a secondary result. The direct result of socialising every day in the bars may be happiness and meeting new people, but the indirect results could be addiction, or even poverty.
Similar: circuitous
Not focused straight at the target or subject; whose true aim appears secondary or obscure.
Similar: circuitous
Not involving the quickest, shortest, or most convenient path; oblique. In an effort to beat the traffic jams, they opted to take an indirect route to their destination.
Similar: circuitous
of a proof Employing argument by contradiction; making use the law of the excluded middle; arguing via the contrapositive.
Similar: circuitous
Figuratively
archaic Not straightforward, fair, or honest; corrupt. Did you, by indirect, and forced courſes / Subdue, and poyſon this tong Maides affections? / Or came it by requeſt, and ſuch faire queſtion / As ſoule, to ſoule affordeth?

Similar: roundabout · Opposite: direct

noun indirects

An indirect cost. In the case of a piece of equipment such as a pump, the supplier's costs may be broken down into the directs of labour, material, and component costs on the one hand, and the indirects of customized engineering, sales, factory overheads, and order management costs on the other.
An indirect radiator. Indirect radiators are seldom installed except for rooms on the first or second floors; and in the former case the duct, D, is very short, and in the latter it is usually from 12 to 16 feet long. It should be stated in this connection that indirects of large size should be spread out as much as poss

verb indirects · indirecting · indirected

transitive To access by means of indirection; to dereference. The X operations access the data fields by indirecting through the _rep pointer.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: secondary, circumlocutory, allusive, periphrastic, hearsay, circumlocutious, collateral, excursive, mediate, devious, diversionary, discursive, digressive, ambagious, roundabout, circuitous

adjective

Similar: roundabout · Opposite: direct

Translations

Every language

adj not direct

Español	indirecto
中文	間接 /间接 jiànjiē
Português	indireto
Français	indirect
Deutsch	indirekt
Italiano	indiretto
Ελληνικά	έμμεσος émmesos
Русский	ко́свенный kósvennyj, непрямо́й neprjamój

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MLA

"indirect." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/indirect. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

indirect. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/indirect

Chicago

"indirect." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/indirect.

BibTeX

@misc{indirect_2026,
  title = {indirect},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/indirect},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}