Word family noun direction directness director adjective direct ≠ indirect verb direct redirect adverb directly ≠ indirectly
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdirectlydi‧rect‧ly1 /dəˈrektli, daɪ-/ ●●● S2 W2 adverb 1 PERSONALLY/YOURSELFwith no other person, action, process etc between OPP indirectly The new property tax law won’t directly affect us. We hope to bring together the countries directly involved in the conflict.directly to/from Application for admission to this course should be made directly to the University.► see thesaurus at exactly2 COMPLETELYexactly in a particular position or direction SYN rightdirectly in front of/behind/under etc something It was a small house, directly behind the church. The girl was sitting directly opposite him. Have you noticed how he never looks directly at you?3 → speak/ask/answer etc directly4 SOON British English old-fashioned very soon He should be here directly, if you don’t mind waiting.5 IMMEDIATELY British English old-fashioned immediatelyExamples from the Corpus
directly• The new law won't affect us directly.• It also provided some of the strongest evidence to date that Sellafield did directly and routinely harm people's health.• Have you noticed how he never looks directly at you?• Mike and his wife sat directly behind us.• It prescribes, directly for them, a rule of evidence not to be departed from.• New evidence directly linked Nathanson to the killing.• If the outlet is directly over the pipe, simply cut the pipe to length and push it over the outlet connection.• The 800 number led directly to central reservations -- normally a toll call.• Frankly, he did not suppose Adam had had anything directly to do with this at all.• Cindy experienced directly what it meant to coach and advise, and saw that it worked.• When asked directly what were their visions of Howdendyke's future, interviewees made fairly consistent replies.directly to/from• You may have received this leaflet directly from a solicitor.• The top line-cash collections from sales comes directly from Exhibit 7. 5, the cash collections forecast.• Its door could be opened from the inside and led directly to the corridor.• The money generated by Pemex, both in profits and taxes, goes directly to the federal government.• He counted three formations directly to the front.• Normally when she came here she and her friends went directly to the restaurant of their choice.• A good part of the difficulty is derived directly from the structure of social and cultural values discussed earlier in this book.directly in front of/behind/under etc something• Even if he stood directly in front of him, he doubted that Stillman would be able to see him.• He stood and moved directly in front of the window to get a better view.• I watched as the boat, propelled by a solitary oarsman, turned into the shore almost directly in front of me.• In the row directly in front of us sat a father and his young daughter.• Like talking to her, like directly in front of her face.• She was outstripping him when he rolled one of the apples directly in front of her.• The truck sank with a loud gurgle to mid-window, then settled into the mud directly in front of the loading ramp.• They double-parked their Thunderbird directly in front of the box office and climbed out briskly.directlydirectly2 conjunction British English old-fashioned SOONas soon as I came directly I got your message. 