indirect

B1 · Intermediate

adj. avoiding saying something directly or clearly.

adj. not straightforward in communication; avoiding a direct statement or confrontation.

“She gave an indirect answer because she didn't want to hurt his feelings.”

“The diplomat used indirect language to signal his country's displeasure without causing a formal break in negotiations.”

B2 · Upper Intermediate

adj. happening as a result of something else, but not immediately or obviously.

adj. resulting from a cause through an intermediary agent or as a secondary consequence.

“The new law had an indirect effect on the price of groceries.”

“While the factory closure caused immediate job losses, the indirect impact on local small businesses was equally devastating over the following year.”

C1 · Advanced Countable noun Finance Technical

n. a business cost that is not tied to a specific product, like rent or electricity.

n. an expense that is not directly accountable to a specific cost object, such as a particular project or product.

“The company needs to reduce its indirects to stay profitable this quarter.”

“The auditor noted that the allocation of indirects was inconsistent across the various manufacturing departments.”

C2 · Proficiency Computing Technical

v. to access data using a pointer or a reference rather than the data itself.

v. to access a value or memory location by means of indirection; to dereference a pointer.

“The program will indirect through the pointer to find the actual value.”

“The compiler must indirect the address twice to retrieve the data stored in the nested structure.”