oh-BLEEK
Definition
(adjective) Not expressed directly; indirect or evasive; also describes something angled or slanting rather than straight.
Example
Rather than criticizing his boss outright, Marcus made an oblique comment about “leadership styles in general.”
Word Origin
From Latin obliquus, meaning “slanting, sideways, indirect.” The word entered English in the 15th century through Old French oblique. In its earliest English uses it referred purely to geometry — a line that was neither perpendicular nor parallel. The figurative sense of indirectness followed naturally from that physical slant.
Fun Fact
In military history, the “oblique order” was a famous battlefield tactic — attacking at an angle rather than head-on to concentrate force on one part of an enemy’s line while the rest stood at a distance. Frederick the Great of Prussia used it to devastating effect in the 18th century. The same principle turns up everywhere: negotiators who approach sensitive topics obliquely, writers who reveal character through indirect detail, and diplomats who communicate through implication rather than declaration — all are using the oblique.
