oblique adj

1 slanting or inclined in direction or course or position--neither parallel nor perpendicular nor right-angular; "the oblique rays of the winter sun"; "acute and obtuse angles are oblique angles"; "the axis of an oblique cone is not perpendicular to its base" [ant: parallel, perpendicular]

2 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" [syn: devious]

1 any grammatical case other than the nominative [syn: oblique case] [ant: nominative]

2 a diagonally arranged abdominal muscle on either side of the torso [syn: external oblique muscle, musculus obliquus externus abdominis, abdominal external oblique muscle]

English

Etymology

From , oblike, from obliquus

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -iːk

Adjective

1. Not erect or perpendicular; neither parallel to, nor at right angles from, the base; slanting; inclined.
   • It has a direction oblique to that of the former motion. - Cheyne.
2. Not straightforward; indirect; obscure; hence, disingenuous; underhand; perverse; sinister.
   • The love we bear our friends . . . Hath in it certain oblique ends. - Drayton.
   • This mode of oblique research, when a more direct one is denied, we find to be the only one in our power. - De Quincey.
   • Then would be closed the restless, oblique eye. / That looks for evil, like a treacherous spy. - Wordworth.
3. Not direct in descent; not following the line of father and son; collateral.
   • His natural affection in a direct line was strong, in an oblique but weak. - Baker.
4. botany of leaves Having the base of the blade asymmetrical, with one side larger or extending further than the other.

Derived terms

• oblique angle
• oblique arch
• oblique ascension
• oblique bridge
• oblique case

• oblique circle
• oblique fire
• oblique flank
• oblique line
• oblique motion
• oblique muscle
• oblique narration
• oblique planes
• oblique sailing
• oblique speech
• oblique sphere
• oblique step
• oblique system of coordinates

Noun

1. An oblique line.
2. The punctuation sign "/"

Verb

1. To deviate from a perpendicular line; to move in an oblique direction.
   • Projecting his person towards it in a line which obliqued from the bottom of his spine. - Sir. W. Scott.
2. To march in a direction oblique to the line of the column or platoon; — formerly accomplished by oblique steps, now by direct steps, the men half-facing either to the right or left.

Oblique may refer to one of several things:

• In human anatomy,
  • Superior oblique muscle,
  • Inferior oblique muscle,
  • Abdominal external oblique muscle,
  • Abdominal internal oblique muscle
• Another word for Cabinet or Cavalier perspective.
• Oblique projection
• In gas dynamics, Oblique shock
• In geometry, an oblique angle is an angle that is not a multiple of 90 degrees.

• In linguistics, Oblique case
• In typography, Oblique type
• Oblique (album), an album by jazz vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson recorded in 1967 and first released on LP in 1980.
• Slash (punctuation) ( / )
• Military formation, Oblique order

O-shaped, across, ambagious, angle, angle off, angling, askew, aslant, athwart, atilt, awry, backhand, backhanded, banked, banking, bear off, bend, bias, cambered, canted, canting, circuitous, circular, circumlocutional, circumlocutory, clandestine, collateral, crook, crooked, cross, crossway, crossways, crosswise, deceitful, deceptive, deflect, deflectional, deviant, deviate, deviating, deviative, devious, diagonal, digressive, discursive, divagate, divagational, diverge, divergent, diverging, evasive, excursive, false, furtive, helical, implied, inclined, inclining, indirect, leaning, left-handed, meandering, oblique angle, oblique figure, oblique line, offhand, orbital, out-of-the-way, overthwart, periphrastic, pitched, pitching, rhomboid, rotary, round, roundabout, scratch comma, separatrix, sheer, side, sidelong, sinister, sinistral, skew, slant, slanted, slanting, slash, sloped, sloping, slue, sly, solidus, spiral, surreptitious, sway, swerve, thwart, tilted, tilting, tipped, transversal, transverse, traverse, turn, twist, underhanded, veer, virgule