DIRECTLY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does directly mean? 

• DIRECTLY (adverb)
  The adverb DIRECTLY has 4 senses:

1. without deviation

2. without anyone or anything intervening

3. without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening

4. in a forthright manner; candidly or frankly

  Familiarity information: DIRECTLY used as an adverb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DIRECTLY (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Without deviation

Synonyms:

direct; directly; straight

Context example:

went direct to the office

Pertainym:

direct (direct in spatial dimensions; proceeding without deviation or interruption; straight and short)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Without anyone or anything intervening

Context example:

measured the physical properties directly

Pertainym:

direct (having no intervening persons, agents, conditions)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening

Synonyms:

at once; directly; forthwith; immediately; instantly; like a shot; now; right away; straight off; straightaway

Context example:

Come here now!

Sense 4

Meaning:

In a forthright manner; candidly or frankly

Synonyms:

directly; flat; straight

Context example:

came out flat for less work and more pay

Antonym:

indirectly (not in a forthright manner)

Pertainym:

direct (straightforward in means or manner or behavior or language or action)

 Context examples 

Everything in readiness, I made a line fast to the apex of the shears and carried it directly to the windlass.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

A stone-flagged passage, with the kitchens branching away from it, led by a wooden staircase directly to the first floor of the house.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The least that you owe her is to make it clear to the whole world that she was in no way, directly or indirectly, responsible for his tragic end.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I did not quite understand his answer:—That is true indirectly, but not directly.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

This dog was thrashing about in a death-struggle, directly on the trail, and Buck passed around him without stopping.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Whatever his tongue could express would have appealed, in part, to her judgment; but the touch of hand, the fleeting contact, made its way directly to her instinct.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

This time, Mercury is retrograding in Scorpio—directly opposite Uranus, the planet of all things unexpected—and that will make this retrograde a bit harder to navigate.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Their heads were all reclined, either to the right, or the left; one of their eyes turned inward, and the other directly up to the zenith.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

I hired a boat directly, and we put off to her; and getting through the little vortex of confusion of which she was the centre, went on board.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He sat down: but he did not get leave to speak directly.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)