obliquely
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- 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
- at an oblique angle
- the sun shone aslant into his face
- to, toward or at one side
- darting eyes looking sidelong out of a wizened face