superficiality
- noun
- /ˌsuːpərfɪˈʃiːəlɪti/
- She realized that her friendships were based on superficiality, lacking any real emotional connection.
- understand the superficiality
- superficiality and lack
They want epic lives, but they're stuck in the group of the cult of superficiality.
- They want epic lives, but they're stuck in the group of the cult of superficiality.
- This hypocrisy about money brings in two of their themes, their superficiality and their status seeking and their need for control.
Examples
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But these norms nevertheless have a certain superficiality about them.
Academic text (2018) -
The movie was criticized for its superficiality, focusing only on special effects rather than a meaningful story.
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I just started to hate the superficiality of the whole scene.
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I hope you all encourage her," I said, and heard the superficiality of my own words.
Fiction book (1990) -
But there is a general sense of a lack of meaning to life, of superficiality.
Academic text (2002) -
But also, when you look through the world through that lens, you understand the superficiality of many of these other things.
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We came to agree that integration must not be used as a cover for superficiality.
Academic text (1993) -
The larger problem here is the superficiality of the short judgments, as many here have described.
Blog text (5) -
The fashionable society of the present is associated with superficiality, whereas the past is full of spiritual and intellectual value.
Academic text (2014) -
Yet he is acutely aware of the essential superficiality of this representation and its ultimate fictional or illusory nature.
Academic text (2003)
Synonyms
A person or idea that shows little deep thought and weak feeling
Something that looks bright and attractive but has no real value
Antonyms
- Formal
A serious, clear way of thinking that shows strong understanding of important ideas
How Superficial
Surface Forms
Morphology
superficiality = superficial (transparent) = superficial + ity
The noun is a regular nominalization of the adjective 'superficial' with '-ity', yielding 'the quality of being superficial', which is directly interpretable by learners.
Etymology
The word superficiality comes from Latin parts super- meaning 'over' and facies meaning 'face', and you can see the same idea in English words like surface and face. That's why superficiality means being shallow or only about what is on the surface, not about deeper parts.