indirectness
(ˌɪndɪˈrɛktnɪs, -daɪˈrɛkt-)
[f. indirect a. + -ness.]
The quality of being indirect; want of directness or straightforwardness.
| 1628 Wither Brit. Rememb. vii. 1581 Is thy Sov'raynes path Unequall? or is't rather thine which hath Such indirectnesse? 1654 W. Mountague Devout Ess. ii. vii. §5. 142 The maligners of this doctrine of Purgatorie, have methinks, us'd a worse kind of indirectness in their exposure of it. 1790 Paley Horæ Paul. i. 4 This very indirectness and subtilty is that which gives force and propriety to the example. 1821–30 Ld. Cockburn Mem. iii. (1874) 140 Indirectness was..entirely foreign to his manly nature. |