Desultory - English meaning

adjective

Without purpose or direction.

Usage examples:

An aimless existence

adjective

Without having any clear purpose or specific reason

Usage examples:

Aimless violence

adjective

Without any clear intentions, purpose, or direction

Usage examples:

She said that her life seemed aimless after her children left home.

adjective

(of a device or process) working by itself with little or no direct human control.

Usage examples:

An automatic kettle that switches itself off when it boils

noun

A gun that continues firing until the ammunition is exhausted or the pressure on the trigger is released.

Usage examples:

The rapid fire of automatics

adjective

An automatic machine or device is able to operate independently of human control

Usage examples:

Automatic doors, automatic focus on a camera

adjective

Relaxed and unconcerned.

Usage examples:

A casual attitude to life

noun

A person who does something irregularly.

Usage examples:

A number of casuals became regular customers

adjective

Not serious or careful in attitude; only partly interested

Usage examples:

A casual glance at a magazine, even to the casual observer, the forgery was obvious., we have a sma…

adjective

Hasty and therefore not thorough or detailed.

Usage examples:

A cursory glance at the figures

adjective

Done quickly with little attention to detail

Usage examples:

He gave the picture a cursory glance.

adjective

Quick and probably not detailed

Usage examples:

A cursory glance/look, a cursory examination

adjective

Not even or regular in pattern or movement; unpredictable.

Usage examples:

Her breathing was erratic

noun

A rock or boulder that differs from the surrounding rock and is believed to have been brought from a distance by glacial action.

Usage examples:

The source of stone for the whetstones may have been glacial erratics

adjective

Changing suddenly and unexpectedly

Usage examples:

An erratic schedule

idiom

Feeling or showing little interest or enthusiasm

adjective

Without enthusiasm or energy.

Usage examples:

A half-hearted attempt

adjective

Showing a lack of enthusiasm

Usage examples:

He made a half-hearted attempt to keep up with us, but soon fell back.

adjective

Lacking any obvious principle of organization.

Usage examples:

The music business works in a haphazard fashion

adjective

Lacking order or purpose; not planned

Usage examples:

Haphazard record-keeping made it difficult for the agency to keep track of its clients.

adjective

Happening as a minor accompaniment to something else.

Usage examples:

For the fieldworker who deals with real problems, paperwork is incidental

noun

An incidental expense, event, etc.

Usage examples:

An allowance to cover meals, taxis, and other incidentals

adjective

Happening by chance, or in connection with something of greater importance

Usage examples:

His influence on younger employees was incidental, not intentional., will i be reimbursed for incid…

adjective

(of liquid or food that should be hot) only moderately warm; tepid.

Usage examples:

They drank bitter lukewarm coffee

adjective

(esp. of a liquid) only slightly warm

Usage examples:

How can you drink lukewarm coffee?, his support for the voting measures was lukewarm.

adjective

Not enthusiastic or interested

Usage examples:

Her proposals got a lukewarm response., the budget received a lukewarm reception from business lead…

adjective

Going past.

Usage examples:

Passing cars

noun

The passage of something, especially time.

Usage examples:

With the passing of the years she had become a little eccentric

verb

Move or cause to move in a specified direction.

Usage examples:

He passed through towns and villages

adjective

(of an action) carried out without real interest, feeling, or effort.

Usage examples:

He gave a perfunctory nod

adjective

Done quickly and without showing that you care or have much interest

Usage examples:

She asked a few perfunctory questions about my family and then ended the conversation.

adjective

(of writing or speech) lengthy and confused or inconsequential.

Usage examples:

A rambling six-hour speech

noun

The activity of walking in the countryside for pleasure.

Usage examples:

A rambling club

verb

Walk for pleasure in the countryside.

Usage examples:

I spent most of my spare time rambling and climbing

adjective

Made, done, or happening without method or conscious decision.

Usage examples:

Apparently random violence

noun

An unknown, unspecified, or odd person.

Usage examples:

I just sat down by myself and talked to some randoms

adjective

Happening, done, or chosen by chance rather than according to a plan or pattern

Usage examples:

A random sample, he was stopped at the border in a random check., dylan picked several books at ran…

adjective

Not thorough or detailed.

Usage examples:

The information they had was sketchy

adjective

Not detailed or not complete

Usage examples:

Officials provided only sketchy details of the trip.

adjective

Existing or occurring at or on the surface.

Usage examples:

The building suffered only superficial damage

adjective

On the surface only; not deep

Usage examples:

A superficial wound, her book on the history of cars in america was extremely superficial., the sto…

noun

A thing serving as a visible or tangible representation of a fact, quality, feeling, etc.

Usage examples:

I wanted to offer you a small token of my appreciation

adjective

Done for the sake of appearances or as a symbolic gesture.

Usage examples:

Cases like these often bring just token fines from magistrates

noun

Something you give to someone or do for someone to express your feelings or intentions

Usage examples:

It isn’t a big present – it’s just a token of thanks for your help., subway tokens, a token fee, a …

adjective

Not orderly and systematic.

Usage examples:

His inability to locate the source of the trouble resulted in unmethodical chaos

adjective

Not done or acting according to a fixed plan or system; unmethodical.

Usage examples:

The burial mound was excavated in an unsystematic way

adjective

Expressed, done, or acting without proper consideration of the consequences.

Usage examples:

She was at pains to correct unthinking prejudices

adjective

Not based on serious thought or an examination of the information

Usage examples:

What annoys me about these people is their unthinking hostility to anything foreign or unfamiliar.