adj. roundabout and unnecessarily wordy; "had a preference for circumlocutious (or circumlocutory) rather than forthright expression"; "A periphrastic study in a worn-out poetical fashion,/ Leaving one still with the intolerable wrestle/ With words and meanings."-T.S.Eliot; (`ambagious' is archaic)

adj. using or containing too many words; "long-winded (or windy) speakers"; "verbose and ineffective instructional methods"; "newspapers of the day printed long wordy editorials"; "proceedings were delayed by wordy disputes"

adj. characterized by indirect references; "allusive speech is characterized by allusions"

adj. roundabout or ambiguous; "attacks from that source amounted to a backhanded compliment to his integrity"; "a backhanded and dishonest way of reaching his goal"

adj. not straightforward; "his tortuous reasoning"

adj. (of e.g. speech and writing) tending to depart from the main point or cover a wide range of subjects; "amusingly digressive with satirical thrusts at women's fashions among other things"; "a rambling discursive book"; "his excursive remarks"; "a rambling speech about this and that"

adj. avoiding the issue; not straightforward: "an evasive statement"

adj. heard through another rather than directly; "hearsay information"

adj. hesitant to state facts or opinions simply and directly as from e.g. timidity or hypocrisy; "a mealymouthed politician"

adj. extended senses; direct in means or manner or behavior or language or action; "a direct question"; "a direct response"; "a direct approach"