Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of verb direct
13 senses of direct
Sense 1
direct -- (command with authority; "He directed the children to do their homework")
=> order, tell, enjoin, say -- (give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority; "I said to him to go home"; "She ordered him to do the shopping"; "The mother told the child to get dressed")
Sense 2
target, aim, place, direct, point -- (intend (something) to move towards a certain goal; "He aimed his fists towards his opponent's face"; "criticism directed at her superior"; "direct your anger towards others, not towards yourself")
=> aim, take, train, take aim, direct -- (point or cause to go (blows, weapons, or objects such as photographic equipment) towards; "Please don't aim at your little brother!"; "He trained his gun on the burglar"; "Don't train your camera on the women"; "Take a swipe at one's opponent")
Sense 3
direct -- (guide the actors in (plays and films))
=> make, create -- (make or cause to be or to become; "make a mess in one's office"; "create a furor")
Sense 4
direct -- (be in charge of)
=> manage, deal, care, handle -- (be in charge of, act on, or dispose of; "I can deal with this crew of workers"; "This blender can't handle nuts"; "She managed her parents' affairs after they got too old")
Sense 5
lead, take, direct, conduct, guide -- (take somebody somewhere; "We lead him to our chief"; "can you take me to the main entrance?"; "He conducted us to the palace")
Sense 6
send, direct -- (cause to go somewhere; "The explosion sent the car flying in the air"; "She sent her children to camp"; "He directed all his energies into his dissertation")
=> move, displace -- (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense; "Move those boxes into the corner, please"; "I'm moving my money to another bank"; "The director moved more responsibilities onto his new assistant")
Sense 7
aim, take, train, take aim, direct -- (point or cause to go (blows, weapons, or objects such as photographic equipment) towards; "Please don't aim at your little brother!"; "He trained his gun on the burglar"; "Don't train your camera on the women"; "Take a swipe at one's opponent")
=> position -- (cause to be in an appropriate place, state, or relation)
Sense 8
conduct, lead, direct -- (lead, as in the performance of a composition; "conduct an orchestra; Barenboim conducted the Chicago symphony for years")
=> perform, execute, do -- (carry out or perform an action; "John did the painting, the weeding, and he cleaned out the gutters"; "the skater executed a triple pirouette"; "she did a little dance")
Sense 9
direct -- (give directions to; point somebody into a certain direction; "I directed them towards the town hall")
=> instruct, apprise, apprize -- (make aware of; "Have the students been apprised of the tuition hike?")
Sense 10
calculate, aim, direct -- (specifically design a product, event, or activity for a certain public)
=> intend, destine, designate, specify -- (design or destine; "She was intended to become the director")
Sense 11
steer, maneuver, manoeuver, manoeuvre, direct, point, head, guide, channelize, channelise -- (direct the course; determine the direction of travelling)
=> control, command -- (exercise authoritative control or power over; "control the budget"; "Command the military forces")
Sense 12
address, direct -- (put an address on (an envelope))
=> label -- (assign a label to; designate with a label; "These students were labelled `learning disabled'")
Sense 13
mastermind, engineer, direct, organize, organise, orchestrate -- (plan and direct (a complex undertaking); "he masterminded the robbery")
=> plan -- (make plans for something; "He is planning a trip with his family")
Antonyms of adj direct
10 senses of direct
Sense 1
direct (vs. indirect) -- (direct in spatial dimensions; proceeding without deviation or interruption; straight and short; "a direct route"; "a direct flight"; "a direct hit")
indirect (vs. direct) -- (not direct in spatial dimension; not leading by a straight line or course to a destination; "sometimes taking an indirect path saves time"; "you must take an indirect course in sailing")
=> askance, askant, asquint, squint, squint-eyed, squinty, sidelong -- ((used especially of glances) directed to one side with or as if with doubt or suspicion or envy; "her eyes with their misted askance look"- Elizabeth Bowen; "sidelong glances")
=> devious, circuitous, roundabout -- (deviating from a straight course; "a scenic but devious route"; "a long and circuitous journey by train and boat"; "a roundabout route avoided rush-hour traffic")
=> diversionary -- ((of tactics e.g.) likely or designed to confuse or deceive)
=> meandering (prenominal), rambling, wandering (prenominal), winding -- (of a path e.g.; "meandering streams"; "rambling forest paths"; "the river followed its wandering course"; "a winding country road")
Sense 2
direct, unmediated -- (having no intervening persons, agents, conditions; "in direct sunlight"; "in direct contact with the voters"; "direct exposure to the disease"; "a direct link"; "the direct cause of the accident"; "direct vote")
INDIRECT (VIA immediate) -> mediate -- (acting through or dependent on an intervening agency; "the disease spread by mediate as well as direct contact")
Sense 3
direct (vs. indirect) -- (straightforward in means or manner or behavior or language or action; "a direct question"; "a direct response"; "a direct approach")
indirect (vs. direct) -- (extended senses; not direct in manner or language or behavior or action; "making indirect but legitimate inquiries"; "an indirect insult"; "doubtless they had some indirect purpose in mind"; "though his methods are indirect they are not dishonest"; "known as a shady indirect fellow")
=> allusive -- (characterized by indirect references; "allusive speech is characterized by allusions")
=> backhanded -- (roundabout or ambiguous; "attacks from that source amounted to a backhanded compliment to his integrity"; "a backhanded and dishonest way of reaching his goal")
=> circuitous, roundabout -- (marked by obliqueness or indirection in speech or conduct; "the explanation was circuitous and puzzling"; "a roundabout paragraph"; "hear in a roundabout way that her ex-husband was marrying her best friend")
=> circumlocutious, circumlocutory, periphrastic, ambagious -- (roundabout and unnecessarily wordy; "had a preference for circumlocutious (or circumlocutory) rather than forthright expression"; "A periphrastic study in a worn-out poetical fashion,/ Leaving one still with the intolerable wrestle/ With words and meanings."-T.S.Eliot; (`ambagious' is archaic))
=> devious, oblique -- (indirect in departing from the accepted or proper way; misleading; "used devious means to achieve success"; "gave oblique answers to direct questions"; "oblique political maneuvers")
=> digressive, discursive, excursive, rambling -- ((of e.g. speech and writing) tending to depart from the main point or cover a wide range of subjects; "amusingly digressive with satirical thrusts at women's fashions among other things"; "a rambling discursive book"; "his excursive remarks"; "a rambling speech about this and that")
=> hearsay -- (heard through another rather than directly; "hearsay information")
=> mealymouthed, mealy-mouthed -- (hesitant to state facts or opinions simply and directly as from e.g. timidity or hypocrisy; "a mealymouthed politician")
=> tortuous -- (not straightforward; "his tortuous reasoning")
Sense 4
lineal (vs. collateral), direct -- (in a straight unbroken line of descent from parent to child; "lineal ancestors"; "lineal heirs"; "a direct descendant of the king"; "direct heredity")
Sense 5
direct (vs. retrograde) -- (moving from west to east on the celestial sphere; or--for planets--around the sun in the same direction as the Earth)
retrograde (vs. direct) -- (moving from east to west on the celestial sphere; or--for planets--around the sun in a direction opposite to that of the Earth)
Sense 6
direct (vs. inverse) -- (similar in nature or effect or relation to another quantity; "a term is in direct proportion to another term if it increases (or decreases) as the other increases (or decreases)")
inverse (vs. direct) -- (opposite in nature or effect or relation to another quantity ; "a term is in inverse proportion to another term if it increases (or decreases) as the other decreases (or increases)")
=> reciprocal -- (of or relating to the multiplicative inverse of a quantity or function; "the reciprocal ratio of a:b is b:a")
Sense 7
direct (vs. alternating) -- ((of a current) flowing in one direction only; "direct current")
alternating (vs. direct) -- ((of a current) reversing direction; "alternating current")
Sense 8
direct -- (being an immediate result or consequence; "a direct result of the accident")
INDIRECT (VIA primary) -> secondary -- (being of second rank or importance or value; not direct or immediate; "the stone will be hauled to a secondary crusher"; "a secondary source"; "a secondary issue"; "secondary streams")
Sense 9
direct, verbatim -- (in precisely the same words used by a writer or speaker; "a direct quotation"; "repeated their dialog verbatim")
INDIRECT (VIA exact) -> inexact -- (not exact)
Sense 10
direct -- (lacking compromising or mitigating elements; exact; "the direct opposite")
INDIRECT (VIA absolute) -> relative, comparative -- (estimated by comparison; not absolute or complete; "a relative stranger")
Similarity of adj direct
10 senses of direct
Sense 1
direct (vs. indirect) -- (direct in spatial dimensions; proceeding without deviation or interruption; straight and short; "a direct route"; "a direct flight"; "a direct hit")
=> door-to-door -- ((of e.g. journeys or deliveries) direct from point of origin to point of destination ; "the limousine offers door-to-door service")
=> nonstop -- ((of a journey especially a flight) occurring without stops; "a nonstop flight to Atlanta")
=> point-blank -- (close enough to go straight to the target; "point-blank range"; "a point-blank shot")
=> straightforward -- (pointed directly ahead; "a straightforward gaze")
=> undeviating, unswerving -- (going directly ahead from one point to another without veering or turning aside; "some people see evolution as an undeviating upward march from simple organisms to the very complex"; "a straight and narrow tree-lined road unswerving across the lowlands")
=> through (prenominal) -- ((of a route or journey etc.) continuing without requiring stops or changes; "a through street"; "a through bus"; "through traffic")
Also See-> straight#2
Sense 2
direct, unmediated -- (having no intervening persons, agents, conditions; "in direct sunlight"; "in direct contact with the voters"; "direct exposure to the disease"; "a direct link"; "the direct cause of the accident"; "direct vote")
=> immediate (vs. mediate) -- (having no intervening medium; "an immediate influence")
Sense 3
direct (vs. indirect) -- (straightforward in means or manner or behavior or language or action; "a direct question"; "a direct response"; "a direct approach")
=> bluff -- (bluntly direct and outspoken but good-natured; "a bluff but pleasant manner"; "a bluff and rugged natural leader")
=> blunt, candid, forthright, frank, free-spoken, outspoken, plainspoken, point-blank, straight-from-the-shoulder -- (characterized by directness in manner or speech; without subtlety or evasion; "blunt talking and straight shooting"; "a blunt New England farmer"; "I gave them my candid opinion"; "forthright criticism"; "a forthright approach to the problem"; "tell me what you think--and you may just as well be frank"; "it is possible to be outspoken without being rude"; "plainspoken and to the point"; "a point-blank accusation")
=> brutal -- (disagreeably direct and precise; "he spoke with brutal honesty")
=> flat-footed -- (without reservation; "a flat-footed refusal")
=> man-to-man -- (forthright and honest; "had a man-to-man talk about the facts of life")
=> no-nonsense -- (not tolerating irrelevancies; "the no-nonsense tones of a stern parent")
=> plain, unvarnished -- (free from any effort to soften to disguise; "the plain and unvarnished truth"; "the unvarnished candor of old people and children")
=> pointed -- (direct and obvious in meaning or reference; often unpleasant; "a pointed critique"; "a pointed allusion to what was going on"; "another pointed look in their direction")
=> square (prenominal), straightforward, straight -- (without evasion or compromise; "a square contradiction"; "he is not being as straightforward as it appears")
=> upfront -- (frank and honest; "he was upfront about his intentions")
Also See-> honest#1, honorable#1
Sense 4
lineal (vs. collateral), direct -- (in a straight unbroken line of descent from parent to child; "lineal ancestors"; "lineal heirs"; "a direct descendant of the king"; "direct heredity")
=> matrilineal, matrilinear -- (based on or tracing descent through the female line; "matrilineal inheritance")
=> patrilineal, patrilinear -- (based on or tracing descent through the male line; "a patrilineal society")
=> unilateral -- (tracing descent from either the paternal or the maternal line only)
Also See-> related#2
Sense 5
direct (vs. retrograde) -- (moving from west to east on the celestial sphere; or--for planets--around the sun in the same direction as the Earth)
Sense 6
direct (vs. inverse) -- (similar in nature or effect or relation to another quantity; "a term is in direct proportion to another term if it increases (or decreases) as the other increases (or decreases)")
Sense 7
direct (vs. alternating) -- ((of a current) flowing in one direction only; "direct current")
Sense 8
direct -- (being an immediate result or consequence; "a direct result of the accident")
=> primary (vs. secondary) -- (of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondary; "primary goals"; "a primary effect"; "primary sources"; "a primary interest")
Sense 9
direct, verbatim -- (in precisely the same words used by a writer or speaker; "a direct quotation"; "repeated their dialog verbatim")
=> exact (vs. inexact) -- (marked by strict and particular and complete accordance with fact; "an exact mind"; "an exact copy"; "hit the exact center of the target")
Sense 10
direct -- (lacking compromising or mitigating elements; exact; "the direct opposite")
=> absolute (vs. relative) -- (perfect or complete or pure; "absolute loyalty"; "absolute silence"; "absolute truth"; "absolute alcohol")
Synonyms of adv direct
1 sense of direct
Sense 1
directly, straight, direct -- (without deviation; "the path leads directly to the lake"; "went direct to the office")
