overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

indirect.

Not direct

8 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˌɪn.daɪˈɹɛkt/Received-Pronunciation/ˌɪn.dɪˈɹɛkt/Received-Pronunciation/ˌɪn.dɪˈɹɛkt/Canada, General-American/ˌɪn.dəˈɹɛkt/Canada, General-American
  1. Not direct

    While not mentioning any of their competitors by name, the CEO made some indirect statements that they were acting immorally.
    Se asked him some indirect questions to ascertain whether he was single.
  2. Not direct: 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.
  3. Not direct: Not focused straight at the target or subject; whose true aim appears secondary or obscure.

  4. Not direct: 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.
  5. Not direct: Employing argument by contradiction; making use the law of the excluded middle; arguing via the contrapositive.

  6. Figuratively

  7. Figuratively Not straightforward, fair, or honest; corrupt.

    archaic
Where this word comes from

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

noun/ˌɪn.daɪˈɹɛkt/Received-Pronunciation/ˌɪn.dɪˈɹɛkt/Received-Pronunciation/ˌɪn.dɪˈɹɛkt/Canada, General-American/ˌɪn.dəˈɹɛkt/Canada, General-American
  1. An indirect cost.

  2. An indirect radiator.

Where this word comes from

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

verb/ˌɪn.daɪˈɹɛkt/Received-Pronunciation/ˌɪn.dɪˈɹɛkt/Received-Pronunciation/ˌɪn.dɪˈɹɛkt/Canada, General-American/ˌɪn.dəˈɹɛkt/Canada, General-American
  1. To access by means of indirection; to dereference.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

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

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

indirect has 8 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

indirect studioindirect workshello, indirect

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.