oblique

/oʊˈblik/

/əʊˈblik/

Other forms: obliques; obliquest

If something is oblique, it has a slanting position or direction. In figurative use, oblique means indirect or purposely misleading. "What is two plus two?" "Fish!" as an answer is completely oblique.

In math, this adjective refers to geometric lines or planes that are not parallel or perpendicular to a line or surface. A playground is positioned at an oblique angle to the ground. By correcting the clerk's "Mrs." with "That's Ms. now," the woman made an oblique reference to her change in marital status.

Definitions of oblique

1. adjective

   slanting or inclined in direction or course or position--neither parallel nor perpendicular nor right-angled
   “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”

   synonyms:

   convergent

   tending to come together from different directions

   divergent, diverging

   tending to move apart in different directions

   inclined

   at an angle to the horizontal or vertical position

   bias

   slanting diagonally across the grain of a fabric

   cata-cornered, catacorner, cater-cornered, catercorner, catty-corner, catty-cornered, kitty-corner, kitty-cornered

   slanted across a polygon on a diagonal line

   crabwise, sideways

   (of movement) at an angle

   diagonal

   connecting two nonadjacent corners of a plane figure or any two corners of a solid that are not in the same face

   nonparallel

   (of e.g. lines or paths) not parallel; converging

   oblique-angled

   having oblique angles

   antonyms:

   parallel

   being everywhere equidistant and not intersecting

   perpendicular

   intersecting at or forming right angles

   comparable

   able to be compared or worthy of comparison

   antiparallel

   (especially of vectors) parallel but oppositely directed

   collateral

   situated or running side by side

   nonconvergent, nonintersecting

   (of lines, planes, or surfaces) never meeting or crossing

   normal

   forming a right angle

   orthogonal, rectangular

   having a set of mutually perpendicular axes; meeting at right angles

   right

   having the axis perpendicular to the base

   symmetric, symmetrical

   having similarity in size, shape, and relative position of corresponding parts
2. adjective

   indirect in departing from the accepted or proper way; misleading
   “gave oblique answers to direct questions”

   “oblique political maneuvers”

   synonyms: devious

   indirect

   extended senses; not direct in manner or language or behavior or action
3. noun

   a diagonally arranged abdominal muscle on either side of the torso
   synonyms: abdominal external oblique muscle, external oblique muscle, musculus obliquus externus abdominis

   type of:

   ab, abdominal, abdominal muscle

   the muscles of the abdomen
4. noun

   any grammatical case other than the nominative
   synonyms: oblique case

   antonyms:

   nominative

   the category of nouns serving as the grammatical subject of a verb

   types:

   accusative, accusative case, objective case

   the case of nouns serving as the direct object of a verb

   dative, dative case

   the category of nouns serving as the indirect object of a verb

   genitive, genitive case, possessive, possessive case

   the case expressing ownership

   vocative, vocative case

   the case (in some inflected languages) used when the referent of the noun is being addressed

   ablative, ablative case

   the case indicating the agent in passive sentences or the instrument or manner or place of the action described by the verb

   attributive genitive, attributive genitive case

   a word in the genitive case that is used as an attributive adjective

   type of:

   case, grammatical case

   nouns or pronouns or adjectives (often marked by inflection) related in some way to other words in a sentence