Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definitions: Indirect |
IndirectAdjective1. Having intervening factors or persons or influences; "reflection from the ceiling provided a soft indirect light"; "indirect evidence"; "an indirect cause". 2. Not direct in spatial dimension; not leading by a straight line or course to a destination; "sometimes taking an indirect path saves time"; "must take an indirect couse in sailing". 3. Descended from a common ancestor but through different lines; "cousins are collateral relatives"; "an indirect descendant of the Stuarts". 4. 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". 5. Not as a direct effect or consequence; "indirect benefits"; "an indirect advantage". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "indirect" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1550. (references) |
Synonym: IndirectSynonym: collateral (adj). (additional references) |
| Antonyms: direct (adj), lineal (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Circuit | Adverb: by a side wind, by an indirect course; in a roundabout way; from pillar to post. |
Adjective: circuitous, indirect, roundabout; zigzag; (deviating); backhanded. | |
Deviation | Adjective: deviating; Verb: aberrant, errant; excursive, discursive; devious, desultory, loose; rambling; stray, erratic, vagrant, undirected, circuitous, indirect, zigzag; crab-like. |
Latency Implication | Indirect, crooked, inferential; by inference, by implication; implicit; constructive; allusive, covert, muffled; steganographic; understood, underhand, underground; delitescent, concealed. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Movie/TV Titles | Indirect Free-Kick (1997) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Periodicals |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | This microscopic fungus, seen here using Indirect Fluorescent Antibody (IFA) microscopy, is arguably the most important cause of pneumonia in the immunocompromised host, such as an individual with AIDS.Credit: CDC. |  | This microscopic fungus, seen here using Indirect Fluorescent Antibody (IFA) microscopy, is arguably the most important cause of pneumonia in the immunocompromised host, such as an individual with AIDS.Credit: CDC. |
 | Positive indirect FA test for L. pneumophila in the sputum of a patient with Legionnaire's disease.Credit: CDC. |  | Cercariae of Schistosoma mansoni. Indirect fluorescent antibody stain. Parasite.Credit: CDC. |
 | Giardia lamblia. Indirect fluorescent antibody stain. Negative test. Parasite.Credit: CDC. |  | Male and female Schistosoma mansoni in copula, transverse section. Indirect fluorescent antibody stain. Parasite.Credit: CDC. |
 | Map of Fort Jackson, Louisiana, showing the effects of indirect mortar fire by mortar boats positioned by Coast Surveyors working with Captain David Dixon Porter. This map was printed as a commemorative copy on the occasion of the 150th Anniversary of the formation of the Survey of the Coast.Credit: Treasures of the Library. |  | After the eyes are dilated, an indirect ophthalmoscope provides the eye care professional with a wider view of the retina.Credit: National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health. |
 | A pediatric ophthalmologist, uses an indirect ophthalmoscope to examine an infant with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).Credit: Children's Hospital, Buffalo, NY. | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Sir Thomas Browne | Persecution is a bad and indirect way to plant religion. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Communist Manifesto | 1848 | And your education! Is not that also social, and determined by the social conditions under which you educate, by the intervention, direct or indirect, of society, by means of schools, etc.? The Communists have not invented the intervention of society in education; they do but seek to alter the character of that intervention, and to rescue education from the influence of the ruling class. (reference) |
Treaty of Versailles | 1919 | Germany particularly undertakes not to establish against the ports and vessels of any of the Allied and Associated Powers any surtax or any direct or indirect bounty for export, or import by German ports or vessels, or by those of another Power, for example by means of combined tariffs. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Two routine tests are indirect and direct laryngoscopy. (references) | |
Serologic evaluations are conducted by using the indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA). (references) | ||
An indirect laryngoscopy is done in an office by a speech-language pathologist or by a doctor. (references) | ||
Business | The offset may be either direct or indirect. (references) | |
In conversation, Mexicans emphasize tactful and indirect phrasing. (references) | ||
The private sector receives significant direct and indirect government subsidies to provide health services. (references) | ||
Civil Liberties | Thailand | It enjoys almost complete autonomy under the indirect oversight of the Mass Communications Authority of Thailand. (references) |
Tunisia | The Government also relies on indirect methods, such as newsprint subsidies and control of public advertising revenues, to encourage self-censorship in the media. (references) | |
Tanzania | Several rallies were prevented through such indirect means as cutting off electricity for loudspeakers, citing ad hoc limits, and scheduling the same rally times for more than one group. (references) | |
Economic History | Taiwan | As a result, indirect trade with the PRC also declined. (references) |
Jamaica | An estimated 65,000 direct and indirect jobs are created by the sector. (references) | |
Senegal | Also included is exoneration from direct and indirect taxes for the same period. (references) | |
Human Rights | Tajikistan | The trial was believed widely to be an indirect attack on Turajonzoda by his political opponents. (references) |
Indonesia | Transmigrants and migrants outside of the Government's transmigration program received direct and indirect government support in the form of developmental assistance programs and contracts with the TNI or local government officials. (references) | |
Political Economy | MOROCCO | This scheme includes indirect exporters (local suppliers to exporters). (references) |
Political Rights | Bangladesh | The law empowers the Government to appoint these chairmen until the indirect elections can be held. (references) |
China | The final ballot is the culmination of an election process that includes government screening of candidates and an indirect vote that eliminates some candidates. (references) | |
Morocco | On September 15, 2000, indirect elections were held to replace, for the first time since the body's inception, one third of the 270 seats in the Chamber of Counselors. (references) | |
Trade | Bulgaria | The purpose of this rule is to avoid indirect privatization through issuance of new shares. (references) |
Bangladesh | Other export-oriented industries and indirect exporters can claim a duty-drawback at stated rates. (references) | |
Morocco | Since financial liberalization, credit is to be allocated freely, and the central bank has used indirect methods to control the interest rate and volume of credit. (references) | |
Travel | South Africa | Flights to and from the US in July 2000 numbered 42 per week alone, including code-sharing indirect flights. (references) |
Mexico | Mexican social etiquette makes it difficult to say no. In conversation, Mexicans emphasize tactful and indirect phrasing, and may be more effusive than Americans with praise and emotional expressions. (references) | |
Philippines | Where the Western businessperson thinks that time is gold and wants to get to the point immediately, the Filipino likes to be indirect, talk about mutual friends and family, exchange pleasantries, and joke. (references) | |
Women | United Kingdom | The law prohibits both direct and indirect discrimination in training, housing, and the provision of goods and services, as well as in employment. (references) |
Switzerland | The Federal Office for Equality Between Women and Men and the Federal Commission on Women work to eliminate all forms of direct and indirect discrimination. (references) | |
Guatemala | Domestic violence is defined as "whatever action or omission by direct or indirect manner causes damage, or physical, sexual, psychological, or patrimonial suffering" to a person within the family group. (references) | |
Worker Rights | Venezuela | Although labor law pursuant to the 1999 Constitution remained pending at year's end, these elections marked a change from indirect to direct election of labor leaders. (references) |
Costa Rica | There are limited formal mechanisms specifically designed to aid trafficked victims; however, the Government does offer indirect assistance to child victims of trafficking. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
James Madison | 1809-1817 | We have seen them everywhere paying their taxes, direct and indirect, with the greatest promptness and alacrity. |
William H. Taft | 1909-1913 | While some of them, like the reclamation of arid lands, are made to pay for themselves, others are of such an indirect benefit that this cannot be expected of them. |
Calvin Coolidge | 1923-1929 | Many of its burdens will bear heavily upon us for years, and the secondary and indirect effects we must expect to experience for some time. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Indirect" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 94.33% of the time. "Indirect" is used about 1,586 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 94.33% | 1,496 | 5,439 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 2.96% | 47 | 49,740 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 2.08% | 33 | 60,273 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.63% | 10 | 111,207 |
| Total | 100.00% | 1,586 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "indirect": by an indirect course ♦ by indirect means ♦ indirect action ♦ indirect address ♦ indirect addressing ♦ indirect air support ♦ indirect antonym ♦ indirect assessment ♦ Indirect claims ♦ indirect commodities ♦ indirect correlation ♦ indirect cost ♦ indirect costs ♦ indirect damage ♦ indirect damage assessment ♦ Indirect demonstration ♦ indirect discourse ♦ indirect evidence ♦ indirect expression ♦ indirect fire ♦ indirect gain ♦ indirect goods ♦ indirect illumination ♦ indirect immunofluorescence ♦ indirect initiation ♦ indirect ionizing radiation ♦ indirect labor cost ♦ indirect labour ♦ indirect labour cost ♦ indirect laying ♦ indirect lighting ♦ indirect line ♦ indirect loss ♦ indirect means ♦ Indirect moxabustion ♦ indirect object ♦ indirect oration ♦ indirect oven ♦ indirect priming ♦ indirect rein of opposition in front of the withers ♦ indirect request ♦ indirect speech ♦ indirect system ♦ indirect tax ♦ indirect user ♦ indirect visible area ♦ Indirect vision ♦ indirect wave propagation ♦ indirect work. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "indirect": indirect-fired, indirect-speech. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "indirect"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | indirekt (collateral), i zhdrejtë (oblique), i tërthortë (constructive, devious, oblique, roundabout, tortuous, transversal), jo i drejtpërdrejtë. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | ملتو (circuitous, crooked, roundabout, tortuous, winding), موارب (circuitous), مخادع (artful, bluff, bluffer, crafty, deceitful, deceptive, delusive, devious, dishonest, disingenuous, double, double dealing, double-tongued, face, false, fraudulent, hustler, illusive, illusory, insincere, misguiding, misleading, sly, trickish, tricky, underhand, wily), مروى, مداور, غير مباشر (circuitous, circumstantial, mediate, oblique, roundabout, sidelong, sinuous, vicarious), غبر مباشر. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | страничен (adventitious, adventive, aisle, by, circumstantial, collateral, exterior, external, incidental, lateral, marginal, oblique, off, outside, postern, side), косвен (circuitous, circumstantial, collateral, implicit, implied, mediate, oblique, vicarious), вторичен (second, secondary, subordinate), околен (ambient, circuitous, roundabout), непряк (mediate, oblique, remote, second hand), многостепенен (multi-stage), заобиколен (circumlocutory, devious, round, roundabout), индиректен. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | "接 , 间接 (Circumstantial, indirection, Mediately). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | nepřímý (contributory, mediate, oblique, roundabout, tortuous, vicarious). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | indirekte (offline, off-line). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | indirect. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | پیچیده (Abstruse, Crackly, Crump, Intricate, Obscurant, Recondite, Revolute, Unintelligible), کج (Askance, Askew, Awry, Crank, Crump, Devious, Gauche, Lopsided, Sidelong, Sinister, Slant, Snafu, Thwart, Wry), غیرمستقیم (Devious, Oblique, Sideway, Sinuous, Tortuous), غیرسرراست . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | välillinen, epäsuora. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | indirect. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | indirekt (allusively, implicit, implicitly, implied, indirectly, mediate, mediately, oblique, obliquely, second hand, slanting, vicarious), mittelbar (consequential, indirectly, mediate, vicarious), indirekte (indirectly). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | έμμεσοσ (circumstantial, collateral, roundabout, second hand), πλάγιοσ (aslant, bevel, circuitous, devious, lateral, oblique, side, sidelong, slanting). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | עקיף (collateral, oblique, roundabout, vicarious). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | közvetett (collateral, excise, mediate). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | tak langsung. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | indiretto (circuitous, devious, oblique, roundabout, vicarious). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 婉曲 (circumlocution, euphemistic, insinuating, roundabout), 回りくどい (circuitous, roundabout), インタファクス通信 (induction, industrial, industrial design, industrial designer, industrial engineering, industry, interaction, interactive, interest, interface, Interfax news agency, interpret, interpreter, interpretive, interrupt, interview, interviewer). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | まわりくどい (circuitous, roundabout), インダイレクト , え"きょく (circumlocution, euphemistic, insinuating, musical program, roundabout, roundabout way). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 간 (Consequential). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | neuyeeragh (circuitous, crooked, unfair). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | indirectay pośredni. (various references) indireto (circuitous, collateral, mediate, oblique, sidelong), indirecto, secundário (accessory, by, bye, dependant, dependent, derivative, minor repairs, rotor, secondary, Secondary era, side, subordinate, subsidiary), mediar, interpor (mediate), disfarçado (blind, covert, disguised, latent ability, masked ball, off-stage), anil (Anil, blue, indigo). (various references) indirect (backhand, circuitous, circumlocutory, circumstantial, collateral, indirectly, intermediate, oblique, reflex, roundabout), prin ricoşeu, prin intermediari. (various references) косвенный (circumstantial, objective, oblique). (various references) indirektan, zaobilazan (devious, oblique, roundabout), posredan (interfering, intermediary, mediate, oblique), obilazan (roundabout), neupravan (inverse). (various references) indirecto (circuitous, oblique, roundabout, secondary, side). (various references) indirekt (by indirection, circuitous, collateral, implicit, implied, indirectly, mediate, oblique, round about). (various references) imalı (allusive, hinting, insinuating, suggestive), kinayeli (allegoric, allegorical, allusive), endirekt (remote), dolaylı (circuitous, constructive, mediate, oblique, remote, roundabout, secondhand), dolambaçlı (circuitous, circular, devious, labyrinthine, oblique, roundabout, serpentine, shuffling, sinuous, tortuous, winding), doğru olmayan, aldatıcı (baffling, beguiling, catchy, colorable, colored, coloured, deceptive, delusive, devious, dishonest, double dealing, elusory, fake, fallacious, googly, hype, illusive, illusory, specious, treacherous, trickish, tricksy, tricky). (various references) ухильний (elusive, evasive, non committal, tortuous), непрямий (devious, implied, oblique, sideway, sideways, sidewise, vicarious), побічний (accidental, adventitious, collateral, extraneous, incident, lateral). (various references) uẩn khúc, quanh co không thẳng thắn, gian lận, gián tiếp không thẳng, bất lương (malfeasant, rascally). (various references) anunion (crooked, unjust). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "indirect": indirection, indirections, indirectly, indirectness, indirectnesses. (additional references) | |
| |
"Indirect" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Anderegg, Anderlect, inderect, Inderjeet, indirecti, indirent. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "indirect" (pronounced i'ndere"kt) |
| 5 | -d er e" k t | direct, redirect. |
| 4 | -er e" k t | correct, incorrect, resurrect. |
| 3 | -e" k t | affect, bedecked, checked, collect, confect, connect, decked, deflect, deject, detect, disaffect, disconnect, disinfect, disrespect, dissect, effect, eject, elect, erect, expect, infect, inflect, inject, inspect, interconnect, interject, intersect, misdirect, necked, neglect, overprotect, perfect, protect, rechecked, recollect, reconnect, reelect, reflect, reinspect, reject, respect, sect, select, subject, suspect, trekked, unchecked, wecht, wrecked. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: indicter, reindict. | |
| Words within the letters "c-d-e-i-i-n-r-t" | |
-1 letter: citrine, crinite, dictier, dineric, identic, incited, inciter, inditer, neritic, nitride. | |
-2 letters: cinder, citied, citrin, credit, cretin, dicier, direct, incite, indict, indite, irenic, nitric, nitrid, rident, tidier, tinder, tineid, tinier, triced, trined. | |
-3 letters: cider, cited, citer, cried, dicer, diner, edict, icier, indie, indri, inert, inter, nicer, niter, nitid, nitre, recti, riced, ricin, teiid, teind. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-d-e-i-i-n-r-t" | |
+1 letter: crediting, dendritic, dicentric, directing, direction, indicters, interdict, reincited, reindicts. | |
+2 letters: criminated, dentifrice, dicentrics, directions, discretion, distincter, indirectly, indiscreet, interdicts, iridescent, predicting, prediction, reindicted, tyrocidine. | |
+3 letters: accrediting, codirecting, codirection, conditioner, condottieri, countrified, dentifrices, dereliction, description, directional, discretions, doctrinaire, eradicating, eradication, incertitude, incinerated, incredulity, indirection, interceding, interdicted, interdictor, modernistic, predicating, predication, predictions, rancidities, readdicting, recondition, redirecting, redirection, reindicting, reinducting, rodenticide, scrutinised, scrutinized, stridencies, trichinized, tyrannicide, tyrocidines, uncertified, viridescent. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)49 6E 64 69 72 65 63 74 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references).. -. -.. .. .-. . -.-. - |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01001001 01101110 01100100 01101001 01110010 01100101 01100011 01110100 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)I n d i r e c t |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0049 006E 0064 0069 0072 0065 0063 0074 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)4380707584716986 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Quotations: Familiar 8. Quotations: Historic | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Quotations: Speeches 11. Usage Frequency 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Orthography 19. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
