oblique
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /əˈbliːk/
rhymes: -iːk
ipa: /oʊˈbliːk/
rhymes: -iːk
ipa: /ɑbˈlaɪk/
ipa: /ɒbˈlaɪk/
Forms: form: obliquer
form: obliquest
Etymology: From Middle French oblique, from Latin oblīquus (also spelled oblīcus) (“slanting, sideways, indirect, envious”).
Senses: examples: text: Italic fonts are sometimes described as oblique in typographic terminology.
text: when it has a Direction oblique to that of the former Motion, it is either added to, or subtracted from the former Motion
ref: 1725, George Cheyne, Philosophical Principles of Religion, page 16:
text: The roadside section of the tramway is limited to 12 m.p.h., except over the oblique road crossings, where speed is restricted to 4 m.p.h., with a compulsory stop immediately before.
ref: 1951 May, R. K. Kirkland, “The Cavan & Leitrim Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 344:
synonyms: aslant
askew
slanting
inclined
glosses: Not erect or perpendicular; not parallel to, or at right angles from, the base.
examples: text: The email from HR obliquely informed her that some complaints about her had been received.
text: This mode of oblique research, where a more direct one is denied, we find to be the only one in our power.
ref: 1840, Thomas De Quincey, “Style. No. II”, in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, page 387:
glosses: Not straightforward; indirect; by implication; (sometimes even) obscure, ambiguous, or confusing.
examples: text: For the love we bear our friends, / Tho nere so strongly grounded, / Hath in it certain oblique ends / If to the bottome sounded
ref: 1630, Michael Drayton, “The Third Nimphall”, in The Muses Elyzium:
text: Then would be closed the restless, oblique eye / That looks for evil, like a treacherous spy
ref: 1849, William Wordsworth, “Humanity”, in The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth:
glosses: Disingenuous; underhand; morally corrupt.
examples: text: His natural affection in a direct line was strong; in an oblique, but weak; for no man ever loved Children more, or a Brother less.
ref: 1665, Richard Baker, “The Reign of King Henry the First”, in A Chronicle of the Kings of England, page 49:
glosses: Not direct in descent; not following the line of father and son; collateral.
examples: text: Leaves long, lanceolate, tapering upward from the middle to an acute point, […] secondaries very oblique, distinct, alternate, parallel, curved in transversing the blade
ref: 1892, Leo Lesquereux, The Flora of the Dakota Group, page 78:
topics: biology
botany
natural-sciences
glosses: Having the base of the blade asymmetrical, with one side lower than the other.
raw_tags: of leaves
examples: text: Oblique and sinker roots will normally be under a greater compression stress than lateral roots.
ref: 1997, A. Stokes, D. Guitard, “Tree Root Response to Mechanical Stress”, in Arie Altman, Yoav Waisel, editors, Biology of Root Formation and Development, page 233:
topics: biology
botany
natural-sciences
glosses: Growing at an angle that is neither vertical nor horizontal.
raw_tags: of branches or roots
topics: grammar
human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
glosses: Pertaining to the oblique case (non-nominative).
examples: text: They found out obliquely that she had heard from HR about the comments and was taking some time to absorb the sting of an implied reprimand.
topics: grammar
human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
glosses: Indirect; employing the actual words of the speaker but as related by a third person, having the first person in pronoun and verb converted into the third person and adverbs of present time into the past, etc.
raw_tags: of speech or narration
examples: text: In passing from the minor third to unison, the motion ought to be oblique, but from the major third to unison the motion ought to be similar
ref: 1837, Allan Cunningham, “Music”, in The Popular Encyclopedia, page 109:
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: Employing oblique motion, motion or progression in which one part (voice) stays on the same note while another ascends or descends.
Derived terms: deobliquing
double-oblique
nonoblique
oblique angle
oblique arch
oblique arytenoid
oblique ascension
oblique bridge
oblique case
oblique circle
oblique contour
oblique cord
oblique correction
oblique dash
oblique dendrite
oblique effect
oblique fabric
oblique fire
oblique flank
oblique foliation
oblique fracture
oblique head
oblique icebreaker
oblique illumination
oblique intent
oblique ligament
oblique line
obliquely
oblique motion
oblique muscle
oblique narration
obliqueness
oblique order
oblique plane
oblique projection
oblique pyramid
oblique reflection
oblique rhyme
oblique ridge
oblique sailing
oblique shock
oblique spaceship
oblique speech
oblique sphere
oblique stem
oblique step
oblique strain
Oblique Strategies
oblique stroke
oblique subject
oblique-swimming triplefin
oblique system of coordinates
oblique tone
oblique type
oblique wing
obliquity
single-oblique
suboblique
triple-oblique