cursory
21
7.0
- 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.
- If you thought that the treatment was rather cursory, it is.
- What are what are some of the problems you can see with biogas digesters based off of this cursory introduction to them?
- OK, now he checks a complete blood panel, which is good, but that's that's a very cursory test that checks nothing about diabetes whatsoever.
- It was to get these new entities registered, but frankly, because of limited resources, we've done a very cursory review giving people licenses.
- Yeah, that's a sort of general cursory background info.
- They're talking to you in this pilot speak, which is cursory and mysterious until you learn it.
- And very quickly, you know, initially the cursory review leads you to neurotransmitters and inflammation and hormones and other things.
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
194
2.8
Informal and relaxed, not serious
94
5.6
Not thorough and only about what is obvious, not deep
11
8.7
Done quickly without real interest or care
Done quickly and without close attention
Antonyms
How Thorough
Surface Forms
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.