as in roundabout
not straightforward or direct
the cab driver took a very indirect route to the hotel a long-winded, indirect answer to a very simple question
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Recent Examples of indirect
In February, the Trump administration suspended NIH reviews of new grant applications, preventing it from funding new research, and adopted a policy that reduced indirect funding to universities.
—
Berkeley Lovelace Jr., NBC News, 5 Mar. 2025
The cuts, which target indirect expenses related to clinical trials and basic lab research, faced opposition from 22 states and numerous organizations, including universities and hospitals.
—Hannah Parry, Newsweek, 5 Mar. 2025
At a major center of medical innovation like Harvard, indirect funding is tightly wound into the progress of research itself.
—Nathan Heller, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025
Conflict can be expressed in different ways—some approaches are direct and confront issues head-on, while others are more indirect and cooperative.
—Mark Travers, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for indirect
Berkeley Lovelace Jr., NBC News, 5 Mar. 2025
The cuts, which target indirect expenses related to clinical trials and basic lab research, faced opposition from 22 states and numerous organizations, including universities and hospitals.
—Hannah Parry, Newsweek, 5 Mar. 2025
At a major center of medical innovation like Harvard, indirect funding is tightly wound into the progress of research itself.
—Nathan Heller, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025
Conflict can be expressed in different ways—some approaches are direct and confront issues head-on, while others are more indirect and cooperative.
—Mark Travers, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for indirect
Cite this Entry
“Indirect.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/indirect. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
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