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direct

direct

574 1.0
Straight and without anything in between, for example a route
  • adjective
  • /dəˈrɛkt/
translation icon : directo
  • We took the most direct route to the hotel, avoiding all detours.
  • direct effect
  • direct connection
  • direct link

So he sees the direct impact that this makes.

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Examples

  • Moreover, China's need for grain has a direct and growing impact on U.S. farmers' interests.

    Academic text (1999)
  • I think we're taking the steepest, most direct route to the summit.

  • That means you have a direct connection with God.

  • This phone is going to be a direct line into the bank.

  • So they have a direct route into Afghanistan.

  • My father's a direct descendant.

  • The mandate required health care organizations to vaccinate personnel who had direct contact with patients.

    Academic text (2011)
  • In the mid-nineteenth century, before the cable was laid, there was no direct communication between continents.

    Academic text (2011)
  • She prefers to have direct communication with her manager for clarity.

  • The teacher gave a direct answer to the student's question without any hesitation.

Synonyms

straight
vsdirect
1.0

In a direct line without turning

is used more when emphasizing immediacy or having nothing between
straight-out
vsdirect
4 6.1

Completely direct with no doubt or excuse

applies instead to physical or immediate absence of anything between
unmediated
vsdirect
2 8.2

Experienced directly with nothing in between

applies more widely to routes, journeys, outcomes, and inheritance
lineal
vsdirect
1 8.0

Directly related to an ancestor

is used for many no-intermediary situations beyond ancestry

Antonyms

14 4.3

Saying or doing something without being clear

6 3.5

Taking a longer route that is not straight

Compounds

direct evidence
  • Specialized
18 3.2

Proof that clearly shows a fact is true, such as an eyewitness report

11 3.2

Printed ads sent by post to possible customers

direct action
  • Jargon
10 5.5

A protest where people act directly, for example by blocking a road or factory, to reach their goals

5 6.5

A lawyer asking questions of a witness they called before the other side asks questions

direct correlation
  • Specialized
5 4.2

A relationship where two things increase or decrease together

A plane journey between two places that may stop but uses the same plane

A way of sending advertising messages directly to individual customers, for example by email

direct current
  • Specialized
3 3.5

An electric flow that moves steadily in one direction, for example from a battery

direct cost
  • Specialized
2 3.4

A cost you can put on a single project, like materials or wages

2 4.6

Money from a company or person in one country used to buy and control a business in another country

A clear and strong difference between two things

direct tax
  • Specialized
2 4.2

A tax that a person or business pays directly to the government, not added to the price of goods

1 3.5

A loan a lender gives straight to a borrower without a middle person

direct fire
  • Specialized
1 7.7

Shooting at a target you can see with weapons like a tank or rifle

direct proof
  • Specialized
1 6.6

A way to show something is true by using known facts and simple logical steps

The exact words someone said or wrote shown in quotation marks

A person or company that sends ads by mail to sell things

A word or group of words that names people and things and receives the action of a verb

5.5

An engine that sends diesel fuel straight into the part where it burns to use less fuel

A diesel engine that injects fuel directly into the chamber where it burns

A primary election where voters choose candidates instead of party officials

A word that means the exact opposite of another word

direct bill of lading
  • Specialized
8.9

A paper showing the goods stay on the same ship without transfer

direct discourse
  • Specialized
6.3

Repeating the exact words someone said or thought, usually in quote marks

direct dye
  • Specialized
5.4

A dye that colours cotton and similar fabrics without using a fixing chemical

3.6

An electric flow that moves in one direction and does not reverse

direct sum
  • Specialized
8.7

A way of joining two sets or spaces so each new item has one part from each

Fire from guns or artillery that helps one group of soldiers during combat

7.4

Help from one military unit to another that answers the other unit's requests for help

Help given by a company or maker straight to a customer

direct tide
  • Specialized
8.4

A high water level on the side of Earth facing the moon

direct transmission
  • Specialized
3.7

Spread of infection from one person to another when someone touches or coughs on them

direct traffic
  • Texting
3.8

Visits to a website that come from people typing the address or using a bookmark

direct trust
  • Formal
6.7

An arrangement set up by people on purpose, often in writing, to control money and property

8.9

A former UK school that charged fees but accepted some students funded by the local council

A U.S. military kit that turns a regular bomb dropped from a plane into a precise guided bomb

How Direct

direct
574 1.0
instant
233 2.0
immediate
570 1.3
indirect
35 3.9

Surface Forms

direct positive

Etymology

Direct comes from a root that means 'straight' or 'without something between', and that is still how we use it. So a direct route or direct contact means a straight, immediate connection with nothing in the middle.