o·bliq·ui·ty

(ō-blĭk′wĭ-tē, ə-blĭk′-)

n. pl. o·bliq·ui·ties

a. The quality or condition of being oblique, especially in deviating from a vertical or horizontal line, plane, position, or direction.

b. The angle or extent of such a deviation.

a. Deviation from moral or proper conduct or thought: "Eleanor did not believe that early rising could possibly be compatible with moral obliquity" (Elizabeth Bowen).

b. An instance of this.

3. Indirection in conduct or verbal expression; lack of straightforwardness: "It may be that the candor of contemporary literature creates a nostalgia for indirection, obliquity and deferral" (Anatole Broyard).

o·bliq′ui·tous adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

obliquity

(əˈblɪkwɪtɪ)

n, pl -ties

1. the state or condition of being oblique

2. a deviation from the perpendicular or horizontal

3. a moral or mental deviation

4. (Astronomy) astronomy Also called: obliquity of the ecliptic the angle between the plane of the earth's orbit and that of the celestial equator, equal to approximately 23° 27′ at present

oˈbliquitous adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

o•bliq•ui•ty

(əˈblɪk wɪ ti, oʊˈblɪk-)

n., pl. -ties.

1. the state of being oblique.

2. an inclination or a degree of inclination.

3. immorality.

4. intellectual deviousness.

5. deliberate evasiveness in speech or writing.

6. a confusing or obscure statement or passage of writing.

7. the angle between the plane of the earth's orbit and that of the earth's equator, equal to 23°27~; the inclination of the earth's equator.

obliquity

The characteristic in wide-angle or oblique photography that portrays the terrain and objects at such an angle and range that details necessary for interpretation are seriously masked or are at a very small scale, rendering interpretation difficult or impossible.

Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. US Department of Defense 2005.

obliquity

the inclination of the earth’s equator or the angle between the plane of the earth’s orbit and the plane of the equator (23°27’). Also called obliquity of the ecliptic. See also 133. EARTH. — obliquitous, adj.

ob·liq·ui·ty

n. oblicuidad, estado de estar inclinado-a.

English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

But that is not all, that is not his worst defect; his worst defect is his perpetual moral obliquity, perpetual--from the days of the Flood to the Schleswig-Holstein period.

View in context

"Irregularity of Figure" means with us the same as, or more than, a combination of moral obliquity and criminality with you, and is treated accordingly.

View in context

The oblique course of the projectile, from its very obliquity, gave Michel Ardan some hopes of striking the lunar disc at some point or other.

View in context

And thus, by changing the situation of the stone, as often as there is occasion, the island is made to rise and fall by turns in an oblique direction, and by those alternate risings and fallings (the obliquity being not considerable) is conveyed from one part of the dominions to the other.

View in context

Screwed at its axis against the side, a swinging lamp slightly oscillates in Jonah's room; and the ship, heeling over towards the wharf with the weight of the last bales received, the lamp, flame and all, though in slight motion, still maintains a permanent obliquity with reference to the room; though, in truth, infallibly straight itself, it but made obvious the false, lying levels among which it hung.

View in context

And yet it is this very obliquity of thought and memory which makes mental disease such a fascinating study.

View in context

It was after tea on a summer evening, and the conversation, which had roamed in a desultory, spasmodic fashion from golf clubs to the causes of the change in the obliquity of the ecliptic, came round at last to the question of atavism and hereditary aptitudes.

View in context

She has a halt in her gait, red hair, and a trifling obliquity of vision.

View in context

The auditor paid much attention to these romances, and sometimes interrupted them by brief remarks upon the incidents, displaying shrewdness above his years, mingled with a moral obliquity which grated very harshly against Ilbrahim's instinctive rectitude.

View in context

"We have taken a couple of RPG strikes that have glanced off because of the obliquity of the vehicle." In any event, "if the enemy gets the right angle, no vehicle is going to survive an RPG, unless you have slat, active or reactive armor," he added.

Army boosts production of security vehicle

The term "obliquity" is used to describe the method by which goals are often best achieved through indirect means.

Culture and Prosperity: the Truth about Markets--Why Some Nations Are Rich but Most Remain Poor

But he rebelled against Wilde's coy obliquity when dealing with sexual matters, adopting an openness that qualifies Gide as the first person to "come out" as gay.

July-August 2004: harbingers (out in their time)

Noun	1.	obliquity - the presentation during labor of the head of the fetus at an abnormal angle asynclitism childbed, confinement, lying-in, parturiency, travail, labour, labor - concluding state of pregnancy; from the onset of contractions to the birth of a child; "she was in labor for six hours" abnormalcy, abnormality - an abnormal physical condition resulting from defective genes or developmental deficiencies
	2.	obliquity - the quality of being deceptive deceptiveness dishonesty - the quality of being dishonest meretriciousness, speciousness - an appearance of truth that is false or deceptive; seeming plausibility; "the speciousness of his argument"