not in a direct course or path; deviating from a straight line; roundabout

an indirect course in sailing.

coming or resulting otherwise than directly or immediately, as effects or consequences

an indirect advantage.

not direct in action or procedure

His methods are indirect but not dishonest.

not straightforward; devious; deceitful

He is known as a shady, indirect fellow.

not direct in bearing, application, force, etc.

indirect evidence.

of, pertaining to, or characteristic of indirect discourse

an indirect quote.

not descending in a direct line of succession, as a title or inheritance.

adjective

direct , straight , straightforward

adjective

ambiguous , ancillary , circuitous , circular , circumlocutory , collateral , complicated , contingent , crooked , devious , discursive , duplicitous , erratic , eventual , implied , incidental , long , long-drawn-out , long way home , long-winded * , meandering , oblique , obscure , out-of-the-way , periphrastic , rambling , secondary , serpentine * , sidelong , sinister , sinuous , snaking , sneaking , sneaky , subsidiary , tortuous , twisting , underhand , vagrant , wandering , winding , zigzag , anfractuous , roundabout , disingenuous , guileful , lubricious , shifty , underhanded , abstruse , ambagious , circumstantial , consequential , deceitful , dishonest , evasive , mediate , misleading , secondhand , serpentine , subtle , vague , vicarious