roundabout
/'raundəbaut/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
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.
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
- 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
- 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
- a large, rotating machine with seats for children to ride or amusement
- a road junction at which traffic streams circularly around a central island
- the accident blocked all traffic at the rotary