oblique

adjective obliquer · obliquest

1. Not erect or perpendicular; not parallel to, or at right angles from, the base. Italic fonts are sometimes described as oblique in typographic terminology.

   Similar: aslant, askew, slanting, inclined

2. Not straightforward; indirect; by implication; (sometimes even) obscure, ambiguous, or confusing. The email from HR obliquely informed her that some complaints about her had been received.
3. Disingenuous; underhand; morally corrupt. For the love we bear our friends, / Tho nere so strongly grounded, / Hath in it certain oblique ends / If to the bottome sounded
4. Not direct in descent; not following the line of father and son; collateral. His natural affection in a direct line was strong; in an oblique, but weak; for no man ever loved Children more, or a Brother less.
5. of leaves Having the base of the blade asymmetrical, with one side lower than the other. Leaves long, lanceolate, tapering upward from the middle to an acute point, […] secondaries very oblique, distinct, alternate, parallel, curved in transversing the blade
6. of branches or roots Growing at an angle that is neither vertical nor horizontal. Oblique and sinker roots will normally be under a greater compression stress than lateral roots.
7. Pertaining to the oblique case (non-nominative).
8. of speech or narration Indirect; employing the actual words of the speaker but as related by a third person, having the first person in pronoun and verb converted into the third person and adverbs of present time into the past, etc. They found out obliquely that she had heard from HR about the comments and was taking some time to absorb the sting of an implied reprimand.
9. Employing oblique motion, motion or progression in which one part (voice) stays on the same note while another ascends or descends. In passing from the minor third to unison, the motion ought to be oblique, but from the major third to unison the motion ought to be similar

noun obliques

1. An oblique line.
2. Synonym of slash ⟨/⟩. Initial inquiries among professional typists uncover names like slant, slant line, slash, and slash mark. Examination of typing instruction manuals discloses additional names such as diagonal and diagonal mark, and other sources provide the designation oblique.

   Similar: slash

3. The oblique case.
4. The musculus obliquus externus abdominis or also obliquus internus abdominis.

Similar: slash

verb obliques · obliquing · obliqued

1. intransitive To deviate from a perpendicular line; to become askew. he sat upon the edge of his chair […] and achieved a communication with his plate by projecting his person towards it in a line which obliqued from the bottom of his spine
2. To march in a direction oblique to the line of the column or platoon; — formerly accomplished by oblique steps, now by direct steps, the men half-facing either to the right or left.
3. transitive To slant (text, etc.) at an angle.