Word of the Day
SEPTEMBER 27, 2024

—adj.
1. neither perpendicular nor parallel to a given line or surface; slanting; sloping.
2. (of a solid) not having the axis perpendicular to the plane of the base.
3. diverging from a given straight line or course.
4. not straight or direct, as a course.
5. indirectly stated or expressed; not straightforward: oblique remarks about the candidate's honesty.
6. indirectly aimed at or reached, as ends or results; deviously achieved.
7. morally, ethically, or mentally wrong; underhand; perverse.
8. Typography.(of a letter) slanting toward the right, as a form of sans-serif, gothic, or square-serif type.
9. Rhet.indirect (applied to discourse in which the original words of a speaker or writer are assimilated to the language of the reporter).
10. Anat.pertaining to muscles running obliquely in the body as opposed to those running transversely or longitudinally.
11. Bot.having unequal sides, as a leaf.
12. Gram.noting or pertaining to any case of noun inflection except nominative and vocative: Latin genitive, dative, accusative, and ablative cases are said to be oblique.
13. Drafting.designating a method of projection (oblique projection) in which a three-dimensional object is represented by a drawing (oblique' draw'ing) in which the face, usually parallel to the picture plane, is represented in accurate or exact proportion, and all other faces are shown at any convenient angle other than 90°. Cf. axonometric, cabinet (def. 19), isometric (def. 5). See illus. under isometric.

—adv.
Mil.at an angle of 45°.

—v.i.
Mil.to change direction obliquely.

—n.
1. something that is oblique.
2. Gram.an oblique case.
3. Anat.any of several oblique muscles, esp. in the walls of the abdomen.