What's the difference between devious and straightforward?

Devious


Definition:

  • (a.) Out of a straight line; winding; varying from directness; as, a devious path or way.
  • (a.) Going out of the right or common course; going astray; erring; wandering; as, a devious step.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Cholecystectomy provided successful treatment in three of the four patients but the fourth was too ill to undergo an operation; in general, definitive treatment is cholecystectomy, together with excision of the fistulous tract if this takes a direct path through the abdominal wall from the gallbladder, or curettage if the course is devious.
  • (2) He told the court: “We have been trying at the bar to imagine whether we can think of any other group of legal or natural persons, terrorist suspects, arms dealers, Jews, in respect of whose evidence one might even begin to think that one could tenably say, ‘Well, of course, in looking at this evidence I have been very careful because I know from the past that these people are a bit devious and a bit unworthy, and the only thing they’re really interested in is subverting public health.’ ” Yet last week’s judgment, running to 1,000 paragraphs, confirmed in excoriating detail just how determined big tobacco has been down the decades to achieve precisely this goal.
  • (3) "They are alert, cunning and devious individuals who have current knowledge of investigative methods and techniques which may be used against them," said an internal report.
  • (4) In the interim, Gough had also played a devious old friend of the Doctor – by now, Peter Davison – in the 1983 story Arc of Infinity.
  • (5) Ideally they should also possess the sort of clipped tones that make vulgarities sound like Virgil and the sort of wardrobe that dresses up deviousness as a gentleman's sport.
  • (6) You're a devious villain conducting the perfect crime, like the dashing guest star in the opening scene of a classic Columbo.
  • (7) This is in part due to planned obsolescence – a devious ploy by manufacturers bolstered by marketing strategies to make us fall out of love with a product hastily.
  • (8) In the maximum likelihood (ML) method for estimating a molecular phylogenetic tree, the pattern of nucleotide substitutions for computing likelihood values is assumed to be simpler than that of the actual evolutionary process, simply because the process, considered to be quite devious, is unknown.
  • (9) But all of these arguments, Anderson implied, fell on deaf ears because of what he called the “myth of tobacco exceptionalism” – the view that manufacturers are “uniquely devious”.
  • (10) "While millions of working people are either without work, or having their pay frozen or slashed, Britain's boardrooms are finding even more devious ways to squeeze even more cash from their companies," said the general secretary, Len McCluskey.
  • (11) But, at heart, Harper’s team are not that different from politicians across the developed world who have discovered that democracy is a pretty sweet theory but that, in reality, if you want to get hold of power and use it, there are all kinds of devious moves available that have very little to do with that antique idea.
  • (12) These presentations of the devious ease with which the Vatican dissembles also clearly serve as a metaphor for the Catholic church’s unwillingness to address the scandals of priestly paedophilia.
  • (13) They can change their name but it’s the same thing – if people are wise, they will see it is the devious politics of the hard left.” In response to complaints about the email, a Corbyn campaign spokesman said: “At this crucial time for our party and our country, it is essential that we bring Labour together.
  • (14) During the trial's closing arguments Donald's lawyer, Max Blecher, accused Shelly of an "unconscionable", "devious" and "invidious" scheme to strip him of the Clippers.
  • (15) There aren’t enough Trotskyists, entryists, devious Tories and random renegades to explain such an overwhelming victory.
  • (16) The mining magnate says Brough, who is contesting former Speaker Peter Slipper's Sunshine Coast seat of Fisher, has been devious over the James Ashby affair.
  • (17) In the UK, the doughty chair of the public accounts committee, Margaret Hodge, investigating Google for tax avoidance has denounced the firm as "devious", "calculating … and manipulating".
  • (18) The 12 Years a Slave star is perhaps Lee’s most high-profile find , but others who have found success from the Showcases include Randall Park who stars in the upcoming series Fresh off the Boat, as well as Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams, Chadwick Boseman (42) and Dania Ramirez (Devious Maids).
  • (19) The book described Charles’s court as so riven by infighting that it is known by insiders as “Wolf Hall”, after Hilary Mantel’s fictional portrayal of Thomas Cromwell’s devious machinations on behalf of King Henry VIII.
  • (20) The model stipulates that given exposure to sustained aversive maternal control and a maternal communication style which is subtle and devious, the child comes to adapt with approach, stratagem-based behaviours and heightened vigilance for evaluative information (i.e.

Straightforward


Definition:

  • (a.) Proceeding in a straight course or manner; not deviating; honest; frank.
  • (adv.) In a straightforward manner.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) One would expect banks to interpret this in a common sense and straightforward way without trying to circumvent it."
  • (2) And finally there is straightforward cannibalism in which humans hunt, kill and eat other humans because they have a preference for human flesh.
  • (3) His next target, apart from the straightforward matter of retaining his champion's title this winter, is 4,182, being the number of winners trained by Martin Pipe, with whom he had seven highly productive years at the start of his career.
  • (4) On examples from their own practice the authors draw attention to the that the diagnosis and treatment of this disease is not always as straightforward as might appear from the literature.
  • (5) The IAP technique was straightforward to perform, it yielded quick results, and was highly reproducible, provided that a standardised short fixation period of two and a half hours was used.
  • (6) Modern anesthetic and surgical techniques have made the operation much safer and more straightforward.
  • (7) The fact that the leave campaign are getting things as straightforward as this wrong should call into judgment the bigger argument about leaving the EU.” He said out campaigners were trying to persuade people to vote for Brexit solely on the back of an issue “that is not true”.
  • (8) If the observed odds ratios in the data follow this pattern, the model-predicted odds ratios will be accurate, and the meaning of the odds ratio for each risk factor will be straightforward.
  • (9) The stomach must need some respite from the cold shock of missing relatively straightforward opportunities.
  • (10) An intradermal skin test with 1 : 100 dilution of 2-5 per cent thiopentone was positive and subsequent anaesthesia without thiopentone was straightforward.
  • (11) Inside the building, the gallery spaces are curiously straightforward.
  • (12) A different, more straightforwardly anti-cuts message could perhaps consolidate a left-vote in a PR system, but is unlikely to work for a party seeking to lead.
  • (13) Written partnership agreements, employment contracts and related documents may seem to complicate what appears to be a straightforward arrangement, and can make a close relationship somewhat more impersonal.
  • (14) Use of the proportional-response photon counter makes the measurement straightforward and more accurate.
  • (15) A straightforward information-processing model describes the mental processes that are used in deciding whether a sentence is true or false of an accompanying picture.
  • (16) The surest sign of malign intention in financial dealings is a failure to be straightforward about the fees.
  • (17) With attention to detail, prosthesis sizing is straightforward using intraoperative determination of corporeal girth and total corporeal length.
  • (18) However the advent of computer-based image analysers offers a more straightforward, although less direct, method of making such measurements.
  • (19) A straightforward decision-making process was found among males, but more complicated influences exist for females.
  • (20) Woodward maintained that it would be simple to thrash out a "straightforward commercial settlement".