Word of the Day Archive
Thursday December 25, 2008
oblique \oh-BLEEK\ , noun:
1. something oblique, such as a line or figure
adverb:
1. in military use, by turning 45 degrees
adjective:
1. not straight up and down or across; slanting
noun:
1. a muscle attached at an oblique angle to the structure that it controls
adjective:
1. having unequal sides; situated obliquely instead of transverse or longitudinal
2. not straightforward; indirect
Both novels were direct and oblique, not mentioning 9/11 but addressing the question of how you retain your humanity after the unthinkable has entered your life.
-- Charles Taylor, New York Times, 11/21/2008
Theodor Geisel's response to Hitler was more oblique than Stauffenberg's, but as effective. Yertle, king of the pond, commands all the turtles to stack themselves up so he can be top of the heap. Someone's riding for a fall.
-- Telegraph.co.uk, 1/19/2008
by 1425, from Middle French oblique, from Latin obliquus "slanting, sidelong, indirect," from ob "against" + root of licinus "bent upward," from Proto Indo-European base *lei- "to bend, be movable."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for oblique
