Gentle vs Direct - What's the difference?
gentle | direct |
Tender and amiable; of a considerate or kindly disposition.
Soft and mild rather than hard or severe.
*{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
, title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=3 Docile and easily managed.
Gradual rather than steep or sudden.
Polite and respectful rather than rude.
(archaic) Well-born; of a good family or respectable birth, though not noble.
* Johnson's Cyc.
* Milton
Straight, constant, without interruption.
Straight; not crooked, oblique, or circuitous; leading by the short or shortest way to a point or end.
Straightforward; sincere.
* Shakespeare
Immediate; express; plain; unambiguous.
* John Locke
* Hallam
In the line of descent; not collateral.
(astronomy) 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.
Directly.
* 2009 , Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall , Fourth Estate 2010, p. 346:
To manage, control, steer.
To aim (something) at (something else).
To point out or show to (somebody) the right course or way; to guide, as by pointing out the way.
* Lubbock
To point out to with authority; to instruct as a superior; to order.
* Shakespeare
(dated) To put a direction or address upon; to mark with the name and residence of the person to whom anything is sent.
As adjectives the difference between gentle and direct
is that gentle is tender and amiable; of a considerate or kindly disposition while direct is straight, constant, without interruption.As verbs the difference between gentle and direct
is that gentle is to become gentle while direct is to manage, control, steer.As a noun gentle
is (archaic) a person of high birth.As an adverb direct is
directly.gentle
English
Adjective
(er)citation, passage=Here the stripped panelling was warmly gold and the pictures, mostly of the English school, were mellow and gentle in the afternoon light.}}
- a gentle horse
- British society is divided into nobility, gentry, and yeomanry, and families are either noble, gentle , or simple.
- the studies wherein our noble and gentle youth ought to bestow their time
Synonyms
* (polite) friendly, kind, polite, respectfulAntonyms
* (polite) rudeDerived terms
* gentle craft * gentleness * gentleman * gentlewoman * gentlydirect
English
Adjective
(er)- the most direct route between two buildings
- Be even and direct with me.
- He nowhere, that I know, says it in direct words.
- a direct and avowed interference with elections
- a descendant in the direct line
Antonyms
* indirectDerived terms
* direct action * direct current * direct flight * direct initiative * direct object * direct quoteAdverb
(en adverb)- Presumably Mary is to carry messages that she, Anne, is too delicate to convey direct .
Verb
(en verb)- to direct the affairs of a nation or the movements of an army
- They directed their fire towards the men on the wall.
- He directed his question to the room in general.
- He directed me to the left-hand road.
- the next points to which I will direct your attention
- She directed them to leave immediately.
- I'll first direct my men what they shall do.
- to direct a letter