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PlainSpell

direct

di·rect/daɪˈɹɛkt/adjective, adverb, verb

direct is spelled D-I-R-E-C-T: 6 letters and 2 syllables (di·rect). It appears 81 times per million words in written English, the 1,302nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, direct means “Proceeding without deviation or interruption” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in direct?

Letters6: D-I-R-E-C-T
Syllables2: di·rect
In writing81 times per million words; the 1,302nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is direct?

Direct appears 81 times per million words in written English, the 1,302nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce direct?

  • US /daɪˈɹɛkt/
  • US /dɪˈɹɛkt/
  • US /dəˈɹɛkt/

Direct has 2 syllables, split di·rect in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-direct.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with direct?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as direct from its last stressed vowel (/ɛkt/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: credit.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of direct

  • more direct comparative
  • most direct superlative
  • directs present, singular, he/she/it
  • directing participle, present
  • directed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does direct mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Proceeding without deviation or interruption.

  2. 2

    Straight; not crooked, oblique, or circuitous; leading by the short or shortest way to a point or end.

    the most direct route between two buildings

  3. 3

    Straightforward; sincere.

  4. 4

    Immediate; express; plain; unambiguous.

  5. 5

    In the line of descent; not collateral.

    a descendant in the direct line

  6. 6

    In the direction of the general planetary motion, or from west to east; in the order of the signs; not retrograde; said of the motion of a celestial body.

  7. 7

    Pertaining to, or effected immediately by, action of the people through their votes instead of through one or more representatives or delegates.

    direct nomination; direct legislation

  8. 8

    Having a single flight number.

adverb

  1. 1

    Directly.

verb

  1. 1

    To manage, control, steer.

    to direct the affairs of a nation or the movements of an army

  2. 2

    To aim (something) at (something else).

    They directed their fire towards the men on the wall.

  3. 3

    To point out to or show (somebody) the right course or way; to guide, as by pointing out the way; to refer.

    He directed me to the left-hand road.

  4. 4

    To point out to with authority; to instruct as a superior; to order.

    She directed them to leave immediately.

  5. 5

    datedTo address (a letter) to a particular person or place.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate direct?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of direct: dir.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Direct in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchdirect (straight, constant, without interruption), mettre en scène (to be in charge of the direction of a play), ordonner (to order)
Germandirekt, unmittelbar (straight, constant, without interruption), inszenieren (to be in charge of the direction of a play), beaufsichtigen (to manage, control, steer), richten, zielen (to aim at)
Portuguesedireto (straight, constant, without interruption), dirigir (to manage, control, steer), direcionar (to aim at)
Spanishdirecto (straight, constant, without interruption), dirigir, direccionar (to manage, control, steer)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does direct come from?

Borrowed from Latin dīrēctus, perfect passive participle of dīrigō (“straighten, direct”), from dis- (“asunder, in pieces, apart, in two”) + regō (“make straight, rule”). Compare dress. Doublet of derecho. For the meaning development compare with Russian напра́вить (naprávitʹ, “to direct, to turn, to aim, to level, to point”), отпра́вить (otprávitʹ, “to send, to dispatch, to forward”) connected with пра́вить (právitʹ, “to govern, to rule, to drive, to steer”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after direct