oblike

Adjective

oblique (comparative obliquer, superlative obliquest)

1. Not erect or perpendicular; not parallel to, or at right angles from, the base.
   • Italic fonts are sometimes described as oblique in typographic terminology.

   Synonyms:

   aslant, askew, slanting, inclined

2. Not straightforward; indirect; by implication; (sometimes even) obscure, ambiguous, or confusing.
   • The email from HR obliquely informed her that some complaints about her had been received.
3. Disingenuous; underhand; morally corrupt.
   • For the love we bear our friends, / Tho nere so strongly grounded, / Hath in it certain oblique ends / If to the bottome sounded1630, Michael Drayton, “The Third Nimphall”, in The Muses Elyzium
4. Not direct in descent; not following the line of father and son; collateral.
   • His natural affection in a direct line was strong; in an oblique, but weak; for no man ever loved Children more, or a Brother less.1665, Richard Baker, “The Reign of King Henry the First”, in A Chronicle of the Kings of England, page 49
5. Having the base of the blade asymmetrical, with one side lower than the other.
   • Leaves long, lanceolate, tapering upward from the middle to an acute point, […] secondaries very oblique, distinct, alternate, parallel, curved in transversing the blade1892, Leo Lesquereux, The Flora of the Dakota Group, page 78
6. Growing at an angle that is neither vertical nor horizontal.
   • Oblique and sinker roots will normally be under a greater compression stress than lateral roots.1997, A. Stokes, D. Guitard, “Tree Root Response to Mechanical Stress”, in Arie Altman, Yoav Waisel, editors, Biology of Root Formation and Development, page 233

See all 16 meanings of oblique