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 directing

1 sense of directing

Sense 1
directing, directional, directive, guiding -- (showing the way by conducting or leading; imposing direction on; "felt his mother's directing arm around him"; "the directional role of science on industrial progress")

INDIRECT (VIA leading) -> following -- (going or proceeding or coming after in the same direction; "the crowd of following cars made the occasion seem like a parade"; "tried to outrun the following footsteps")

Similarity of adj directing

1 sense of directing

Sense 1
directing, directional, directive, guiding -- (showing the way by conducting or leading; imposing direction on; "felt his mother's directing arm around him"; "the directional role of science on industrial progress")
       => leading (vs. following) -- (going or proceeding or going in advance; showing the way; "we rode in the leading car"; "the leading edge of technology")