DIRECTLY • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Directly

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/dərˈɛktli/ /dɪrˈɛkli/ /daɪrˈɛkli/ Listen

adverb

Directly adv.

1.

In a direct manner; in a straight line or course. "To run directly on." "Indirectly and directly too Thou hast contrived against the very life Of the defendant."

2.

In a straightforward way; without anything intervening; not by secondary, but by direct, means.

3.

Without circumlocution or ambiguity; absolutely; in express terms. "No man hath hitherto been so impious as plainly and directly to condemn prayer."

4.

Exactly; just. "Stand you directly in Antonius' way."

5.

Straightforwardly; honestly. "I have dealt most directly in thy affair."

6.

Manifestly; openly. (Obs.) "Desdemona is directly in love with him."

7.

Straightway; next in order; without delay; immediately. "Will she go now to bed? 'Directly.'"

8.

Immediately after; as soon as. "Directly he stopped, the coffin was removed." Note: This use of the word is common in England, especially in colloquial speech, but it can hardly be regarded as a well-sanctioned or desirable use.

Directly proportional (Math.), proportional in the order of the terms; increasing or decreasing together, and with a constant ratio; opposed to inversely proportional.

Synonyms: Immediately; forthwith; straightway; instantly; instantaneously; soon; promptly; openly; expressly. Directly, Immediately, Instantly, Instantaneously. Directly denotes, without any delay or diversion of attention; immediately implies, without any interposition of other occupation; instantly implies, without any intervention of time. Hence, "I will do it directly," means, "I will go straightway about it." "I will do it immediately," means, "I will do it as the very next thing." "I will do it instantly," allows not a particle of delay. Instantaneously, like instantly, marks an interval too small to be appreciable, but commonly relates to physical causes; as, the powder touched by fire instantaneously exploded.

See images of 'Directly'

Etymology of 'Directly'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

"Directly" Quotes from Famous Books

... said, rousing herself, and speaking sternly, "get into bed again directly, and lie down and go to sleep. It is the gale that is making you so nervous. Put the bed-clothes over your head, and then ...

— The Beth Book - Being a Study of the Life of Elizabeth Caldwell Maclure, a Woman of Genius • Sarah Grand

... the sentence has no long suspension of the main idea, no diversions of the current. The proposition is stated and illustrated directly, and the mind of the reader follows that of the writer. How injurious it is to keep the key in your pocket until all the locks in succession have been displayed may be seen in such ...

— The Principles of Success in Literature • George Henry Lewes

... reticent about his whereabouts on the night of the murder. During the examination of the other witnesses, especially that of his partner, he had seemed perturbed and anxious, but directly that was over he became calm and ...

— The Day of Judgment • Joseph Hocking

... conception, a truth is the revelation of the will of a god, involving a service to be rendered directly or indirectly to him, and morality consists in a ...

— Communism and Christianism - Analyzed and Contrasted from the Marxian and Darwinian Points of View • William Montgomery Brown

... regard; and exactly follow that course which would be pursued by any one who should wish to reduce an excessive affection. Yet thus leaving untried all the means, which, whether from Reason or Scripture, we maintain to be necessary to the production of the end, nay using such as are of a directly opposite nature, these men presume to talk to us of impossibilities! We may rather contend that they furnish a fresh proof of the soundness of our reasonings. We lay it down as a fundamental position, that speculative knowledge alone, that mere superficial cursory considerations, ...

— A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Middle and Higher Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity. • William Wilberforce

Copyright © 2025 e-Free Translation.com