oblique

 
Pronunciation: /əˈbliːk/

adjective

  • 1neither parallel nor at right angles to a specified or implied line; slanting: we sat on the settee oblique to the fireplace
  • Geometry (of a line, plane figure, or surface) inclined at other than a right angle.
  • Geometry (of an angle) acute or obtuse.
  • Geometry (of a cone, cylinder, etc.) with an axis not perpendicular to the plane of its base.
  • Anatomy (especially of a muscle) neither parallel nor perpendicular to the long axis of a body or limb: an oblique abdominal muscle
  • 2not expressed or done in a direct way: he issued an oblique attack on the President
  • 3 Grammar denoting any case other than the nominative or vocative.

noun

  • 2an oblique muscle: it is the obliques and abdominals which create the well-trained look

Derivatives

obliqueness

noun

obliquity

Pronunciation: /əˈblɪkwɪti/
noun

Origin:

late Middle English: from Latin obliquus

Spelling help

Remember that oblique ends with -que.