indirectly

UK/ˌɪn.dɪˈɹɛk(t).li/US/ˌɪn.dɪˈɹɛk(t).li/

adverbB2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #10,533 of 15,258leans written

Indirectly means not straight, but through something else. Indirectly responsible, learn it indirectly, indirectly employed.

It is the word that spreads responsibility thinly: being indirectly responsible admits a link while denying the act. In economics, indirect taxes are on spending rather than income, and they fall hardest on the people with least.

Definitions of indirectly

1adverbindirectlyNot straight, but through something else.B2+
“The new law will indirectly affect renters, because landlords will pass on the costs.”

indirectly is a manner.

Where it comes from

In-, not, plus directly, from Latin dirigere, to guide straight.

Middle English
inderectely
English, today
indirectly

From Middle English inderectely, indirectly, equivalent to indirect + -ly or in- + directly.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

indirectly in the wild

The president of Malta also presides directly or indirectly over all three branches of the state.
President of Malta
In chess, an X-ray or X-ray attack is a tactic where a piece indirectly controls a square from the other side of an intervening piece.
X-ray (chess)
Upper houses, especially in federal republics, are often indirectly elected, either by the corresponding lower house or cabinet.
Indirect election
The President and majority of members of the Chamber of Deputies are directly elected, whilst the Senate is indirectly elected and partly appointed.
Elections in Rwanda
Below the fifth tier, there are various regional leagues for clubs indirectly affiliated.
List of football clubs in Argentina

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

indirect

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