noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   An indirect action or process. countable, uncountable
2. 2
   deceitful action that is not straightforward wordnet
3. 3
   A lack of direction; deviousness or aimlessness. countable, uncountable

   "In your case, I fear, confession is exploitation by indirection, profit-making by ruse, self-aggrandizement at the expense of God."

4. 4
   indirect procedure or action wordnet
5. 5
   Use of a variable or object through its address. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms

aberrancyaberrationambagesartfulnessbendbias

Example

More examples

"Object-oriented programming is all about indirection."

Etymology

From indirect + -ion, modeled on direction.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.