# direct

> English word · Adjective · IPA /daɪˈɹɛkt/ · frequency rank #1,302

## Definitions
1. Proceeding without deviation or interruption.
2. Straight; not crooked, oblique, or circuitous; leading by the short or shortest way to a point or end.
3. Straightforward; sincere.
4. Immediate; express; plain; unambiguous.
5. In the line of descent; not collateral.
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. Pertaining to, or effected immediately by, action of the people through their votes instead of through one or more representatives or delegates.
8. Having a single flight number.
9. Not employing the law of the excluded middle or argument by contradiction.

## Etymology
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”).

## Easily confused with
- **dirt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/direct-vs-dirt)
- **divert** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/direct-vs-divert)
- **divest** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/direct-vs-divest)
- **dissect** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/direct-vs-dissect)
- **director** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/direct-vs-director)
- **directly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/direct-vs-directly)
- **directed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/direct-vs-directed)
- **diet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/diet-vs-direct)
- **dire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dire-vs-direct)
- **Dirac** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dirac-vs-direct)
- **detect** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/detect-vs-direct)
- **digest** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/digest-vs-direct)
- **defect** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/defect-vs-direct)
- **dialect** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dialect-vs-direct)

## Common misspellings (9)
`ddirect`, `dierct`, `dircet`, `direcct`, `directt`, `diretc`, `dirrect`, `driect`, `idrect`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/direct