desultory

adj
/ˈdɛs.əl.t(ə).ɹi/UK/ˈdɛs.əlˌtɔɹ.i/US

Etymology

From Latin dēsultōrius (“hasty, casual, superficial”), from dēsultor (“a circus rider who jumped from one galloping horse to another”), from dēsiliō (“jump down”), from dē (“down”) + saliō (“jump, leap”).

  1. derived from dēsultōrius

Definitions

  1. Jumping, or passing, from one thing or subject to another, without order, planning, or…

    Jumping, or passing, from one thing or subject to another, without order, planning, or rational connection; lacking logical sequence.

    • He wandered round, cleaning up in a desultory way.
    • I teach a class of desultory minds.
    • subject to desultory fire from the enemy
  2. Out of course

    Out of course; by the way; not connected with the subject.

    • I made a desultory remark while I was talking to my friend.
    • She made a desultory attempt at conversation.
  3. Disappointing in performance or progress.

    • Near-synonyms: half-assed, halfhearted
  4. + 1 more definition
    1. Leaping, skipping or flitting about, generally in a random or unsteady manner.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for desultory. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA