Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Not direct; taking a longer route: Describes a path, journey, or method that is not the shortest or most straightforward way.
   • Indirect in manner or speech: Describes a way of saying something that is not clear and direct, often to avoid being blunt or to conceal meaning.

2. Noun:

   • A circular junction where traffic moves around a central island: A road intersection designed to improve traffic flow, where vehicles travel in one direction around a circle.
   • A merry-go-round: A large, rotating ride found at amusement parks or fairs, with seats (often shaped like animals) for children.
   • (British) A merry-go-round: The primary British English term for the amusement ride.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:
  • We took a roundabout way to avoid the construction.
  • He asked in a roundabout manner if I was planning to leave.
• Noun:
  • Take the second exit at the roundabout.
  • The children loved riding on the roundabout at the fair.

Advanced Usage

• "In a roundabout way": An adverbial phrase meaning "indirectly."
  • She told me, in a roundabout way, that she was unhappy with the decision.
• "What you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts": A proverb meaning that gains and losses tend to balance out over time. (Note: This idiom uses the plural forms 'swings' and 'roundabouts').

Variants and Related Words

• Circuitous (adj): Similar in meaning to the adjective 'roundabout,' describing a longer, less direct path or method.
• Traffic circle (n): (North American) Synonym for the road junction meaning.
• Rotary (n): (North American, especially New England) Synonym for the road junction meaning.
• Merry-go-round (n): The more common term in American English for the amusement ride.

Synonyms

• Adjective: Indirect, circuitous, meandering, oblique.
• Noun (junction): Traffic circle, rotary, circus (in some countries like the UK).

Related Phrases

• Beat about the bush: An idiom with a similar meaning to speaking in a 'roundabout' way, meaning to avoid addressing a topic directly.

Adjective

1. deviating from a straight course
   • a scenic but devious route
   • a long and circuitous journey by train and boat
   • a roundabout route avoided rush-hour traffic
2. marked by obliqueness or indirection in speech or conduct
   • the explanation was circuitous and puzzling
   • a roundabout paragraph
   • hear in a roundabout way that her ex-husband was marrying her best friend

Noun

1. a large, rotating machine with seats for children to ride or amusement
2. a road junction at which traffic streams circularly around a central island
   • the accident blocked all traffic at the rotary