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cursory

cursory

22 7.0
Done quickly without enough attention to detail
  • adjective
  • /ˈkɜr.sɚ.i/
: superficial
  • His cursory glance at the document meant he missed several important details.
  • cursory review
  • cursory examination
  • cursory glance

If you thought that the treatment was rather cursory, it is.

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Examples

  • That's as detailed as I can be with cursory examination.

  • She performed a cursory check of the room and decided everything was in order.

  • We'll do a cursory medical examination.

  • At that time I had a cursory knowledge of the volume of drug trafficking in the city.

  • The director of personnel had only looked at her application in a cursory way before sending her upstairs.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Don't do a cursory review of the job description before you apply.

  • It's a cursory examination, turn-your-head, cough sort of thing.

  • Behind his desk, Stern takes a cursory look at them and shakes his head in dismay.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Roland rotated slowly and saw what he'd missed in his first cursory scan of the room.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • It was to get these new entities registered, but frankly, because of limited resources, we've done a very cursory review giving people licenses.

Synonyms

casual
vscursory
173 2.8

Informal and relaxed, not serious

is about rapid insufficient attention rather than relaxed or informal tone
superficial
vscursory
87 5.6

Not thorough and only about what is obvious, not deep

is quick and not thorough rather than only shallow in focus
passing
vscursory
23 4.8

Done quickly and without close attention

is quick and lacks attention rather than careful work
perfunctory
vscursory
10 8.7

Done quickly without real interest or care

is quick from lack of attention rather than mainly a ritual duty

Antonyms

302 3.7

Having many small parts or facts that you can see

204 4.6

Shows careful attention to every detail and leaves nothing out

How Thorough

exhaustive
  • Formal
33 6.6
thorough
204 4.6
adequate
204 2.7
cursory
22 7.0

Surface Forms

cursory positive

Morphology

cursory = curs + ory

Although the form is historically built from the Latin root 'curs-' (run) plus the adjectival suffix '-ory', the modern meaning 'quick and superficial' is not transparently derivable by learners from any recognisable English base.

Etymology

The word cursory comes from the Latin word currere, meaning 'to run', and from cursor, a 'runner'. So to do something cursory is like 'running' through it, quick and not careful.