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Strict vs Direct - What's the difference?

strict | direct |

As adjectives the difference between strict and direct

is that strict is strained; drawn close; tight while direct is straight, constant, without interruption.

As an adverb direct is

directly.

As a verb direct is

to manage, control, steer.

strict

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Strained; drawn close; tight.
  • strict embrace
    strict ligature
  • Tense; not relaxed.
  • strict fiber
  • Exact; accurate; precise; rigorously nice.
  • to keep strict watch
    to pay strict attention
  • Governed or governing by exact rules; observing exact rules; severe; rigorous.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1905, author=
  • , title= , chapter=2 citation , passage=No one, however, would have anything to do with him, as Mr. Keeson's orders in those respects were very strict  ; he had often threatened any one of his employés with instant dismissal if he found him in company with one of these touts.}}
    very strict in observing the Sabbath
  • Rigidly interpreted; exactly limited; confined; restricted.
  • to understand words in a strict sense
  • (botany) Upright, or straight and narrow; — said of the shape of the plants or their flower clusters.
  • Severe in discipline.
  • Usage notes

    * Stricter'' and ''strictest'' are the grammatically correct forms for the comparative and superlative though outside UK ''more strict'' and ''most strict are more often used.

    Antonyms

    * lenient * lax * permissive

    direct

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Straight, constant, without interruption.
  • 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
  • Straightforward; sincere.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Be even and direct with me.
  • Immediate; express; plain; unambiguous.
  • * John Locke
  • He nowhere, that I know, says it in direct words.
  • * Hallam
  • a direct and avowed interference with elections
  • In the line of descent; not collateral.
  • a descendant in the direct line
  • (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.
  • Antonyms

    * indirect

    Derived terms

    * direct action * direct current * direct flight * direct initiative * direct object * direct quote

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • Directly.
  • * 2009 , Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall , Fourth Estate 2010, p. 346:
  • Presumably Mary is to carry messages that she, Anne, is too delicate to convey direct .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To manage, control, steer.
  • to direct the affairs of a nation or the movements of an army
  • To aim (something) at (something else).
  • They directed their fire towards the men on the wall.
    He directed his question to the room in general.
  • To point out or show to (somebody) the right course or way; to guide, as by pointing out the way.
  • He directed me to the left-hand road.
  • * Lubbock
  • the next points to which I will direct your attention
  • To point out to with authority; to instruct as a superior; to order.
  • She directed them to leave immediately.
  • * Shakespeare
  • I'll first direct my men what they shall do.
  • (dated) To put a direction or address upon; to mark with the name and residence of the person to whom anything is sent.
  • to direct a letter

    Anagrams

    * * ----