Contextualizebeta

directly

adv
/dɪˈɹɛk(t).li/CA/dɪˈɹek(t).li/

Etymology

From direct + -ly.

  1. borrowed from dīrēctus
  2. formed as directly — “direct + -ly”

Definitions

  1. In a direct manner

    In a direct manner; in a straight line or course.

    • He drove directly to the office, and didn't stop off at the petrol station.
    • On arriving at the doors, and entering a long, capacious passage, our eyes became quite dazzled by the gleams of colored light which shone upon them, both directly and reflectedly.
    • It is more difficult to directly compare train operations and maintenance, given how fragmented the non-infrastructure segments of the industry are today.

  2. In a straightforward way

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

    • I'm sick of asking you to fire him; I'll just do it directly.

  3. Plainly, without circumlocution or ambiguity

    Plainly, without circumlocution or ambiguity; absolutely; in express terms.

    • I'm going to tell Natalie directly that I love her.
    • To put it more directly: he's not 'made redundant' but sacked.
  4. ›+ 5 more definitions

    1. Exactly

      Exactly; just; at the shortest possible distance.

      • It's directly across the street.

    2. Straightforwardly

      Straightforwardly; honestly.

      • He told me directly that he'd cheated on me, and how sorry he was for it.

    3. Immediately.

    4. Soon

      Soon; next; in due time; as soon as it becomes convenient.

      • We'll go to the store directly, but first I need to finish sweeping.

    5. As soon as

      As soon as; immediately (elliptical for directly that/as/when)

      • Tenderly, reluctantly, he took his leave of her, promising that he would contact her directly he got back, perhaps in ten days or so.
      • He is to go to Calais, directly this is over, to replace Lord Berners as governor [...].

The neighborhood

Derived

directly proportional

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at directly. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01directly02express03distinctly04distinct05noticeably06observably07observable

A definitional loop anchored at directly. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at directly

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA