oblique

/əˈblik/
verb
  1. To move or lie at a slanting angle.
    • The runner obliqued across the field to avoid the mud.
    • The sun obliqued through the trees in the late afternoon.
    • The road obliques to the left after the bridge.
adjective
  1. Not direct or straightforward; indirect in expression or meaning.
    • She gave an oblique answer to avoid revealing the secret.
    • His oblique criticism was hard to understand at first.
    • The politician's oblique remarks left everyone guessing his true position.
  2. Slanting or sloping; not parallel or at a right angle.
    • The roof has an oblique angle to allow rain to run off.
    • The artist drew an oblique line across the canvas.
    • We followed an oblique path up the mountain instead of climbing straight up.
  3. In grammar, referring to any case other than the nominative or vocative.
    • In Latin, nouns change their form in the oblique cases.
    • Students learn the oblique cases to understand sentence structure.
    • The pronoun 'him' is an oblique form of 'he'.
noun
  1. A slanting or sloping line, surface, or direction.
    • The architect drew an oblique to show the slope of the roof.
    • The dancer moved in a series of obliques and curves.
    • The path cut an oblique across the field.
What does "oblique" mean? | whatsthatwordmean | whatsthatwordmean