roundabout

Definition

Indirect, circuitous, or circumlocutionary.

Etymology

From round + about [from early 20th c.].

Example Sentences

• "[S]he fled, running like a deer, doubling and turning through alleys and back streets until by a very roundabout road she reached her own room."
• ""Really, Bill, I think your best plan would be to go straight to father and tell him the whole thing.—You don't want him to hear about it in a roundabout way.""
• "Mr. Rather flew to the area in a roundabout fashion, first landing in Bahrain, from there flying to Islamabad and then heading to Kabul by land."