Definition

1. Adverb:
   • At an angle that is not a right angle (90 degrees); slantingly: Describes something positioned or moving in a diagonal or sloping direction.
   • In an indirect or evasive manner: Describes an approach to communication or action that is not straightforward or explicit.

Examples of Usage

• Adverb (Physical Angle):
  • The sunlight fell obliquely through the slats of the blind.
  • He cut the fabric obliquely to create a bias seam.
• Adverb (Indirect Manner):
  • The manager criticized the policy obliquely, without naming its proponents.
  • She referred to the incident only obliquely during her speech.

Advanced Usage

• "To approach a subject obliquely": To discuss a topic in a roundabout or indirect way, often to avoid being blunt or to create a specific rhetorical effect.
  • The novelist approaches the theme of grief obliquely, through symbolism and setting.

Variants and Related Words

• Oblique (Adjective): Slanting; not straightforward or direct.
  • an oblique line; an oblique reference
• Obliqueness (Noun): The quality or state of being oblique.
  • The obliqueness of his answer was frustrating.

Synonyms

• Diagonally: In a slanting direction.
• Aslant: At a slant; obliquely.
• Indirectly: In a way that is not direct or straightforward.
• Sideways: From or toward the side.

Related Phrases

• At an angle: Positioned in a direction that is not horizontal or vertical.
• In a roundabout way: Not in a direct manner; indirectly.

Adverb

1. at an oblique angle
   • the sun shone aslant into his face
2. to, toward or at one side
   • darting eyes looking sidelong out of a wizened face