Direct Meaning
/daɪˈɹɛkt/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjProceeding without deviation or interruption.
adjStraight; not crooked, oblique, or circuitous; leading by the short or shortest way to a point or end.
Sentence Examples
Your questions were too direct.
I stepped outside and was bathed in the harsh, direct sunlight.
He was asked to take command and direct operations.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The manager asked the employee to ____ all customer complaints to the service desk.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Your questions were too ____.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Latin dīrēctus, perfect passive participle of dīrigō (“straighten, direct”), from dis- (“asunder, in pieces, apart, in two”) + regō (“make straight, rule”). Compare dress. Doublet of derecho. For the meaning development compare with Russian напра́вить (naprávitʹ, “to direct, to turn, to aim, to level, to point”), отпра́вить (otprávitʹ, “to send, to dispatch, to forward”) connected with пра́вить (právitʹ, “to govern, to rule, to drive, to steer”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Be even and direct with me."
— c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
"He nowhere, that I know, says it in direct words."
— 1689 December (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 1, in Two Treatises of Government: […], London: […] Awnsham Churchill, […], →OCLC:
"Nor did the government scruple a direct and avowed interference with elections."
— 1827, Henry Hallam, “On the English Constitution from Henry VII. to Mary”, in The Constitutional History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to the Death of George II. […], volume I, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 48:
"The walls, which are fixed direct into the ground without a plinth, are made of wattle and plastered with a thin lair of mud or cowdung."
— 1912, Central Provinces (India), Central Provinces District Gazetteers, page 96:
"Presumably Mary is to carry messages that she, Anne, is too delicate to convey direct."
— 2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, Fourth Estate, published 2010, page 346:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The manager asked the employee to ____ all customer complaints to the service desk.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Your questions were too ____.