central vs sidelong

central

adj
  • Having or containing the centre of something. 

  • Being in the centre. 

  • Exerting its action towards the peripheral organs. 

  • Being very important, or key to something. 

noun
  • centre 

sidelong

adv
  • obliquely 

  • Towards the side; sideways. 

adj
  • Slanting or sloping; oblique. 

  • Indirect; suggestive; not straightforward. 

  • Directed to the side; sideways. 

  • Along the side of something. 

How often have the words central and sidelong occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )