superficially
- adverb
- /ˌsuːpərˈfɪʃəli/
- She only examined the report superficially, missing the crucial details buried in the analysis.
- only superficially
- superficially similar
- superficially attractive
We only go superficially into it.
- We only go superficially into it.
- And the joy had gone and I was very embarrassed because superficially everything was good.
- Nature's too friendly a partner when examined superficially.
- Now, for people who are so deeply intracycally insecure, narcissistic people are superficially really confident.
- Now for people who are so deeply intra psychically insecure, narcissistic people are superficially really confident.
- How quickly incompetence can be rewarded in people who are superficially able to convince other people of their abilities.
- They almost never are as good and mostly they many functions never get taken over at all, but are replaced by ones that superficially seem similar.
- I think that my work is superficially dystopian in some respects, but I'm trying to, as you say, affirm a more positive worldview.
- And and so you are born superficially with the same brain.
- And you know, and your intentions, by the way, are not only superficially the ones you articulate.
- Individuality that's doing the action on the part of the essence that is only superficially attached to essence is unessential.
- But I think that people do, when they go into dating apps, people often superficially have an idea of I like sporty type.
Examples
-
But then words from others at a time like this were bound to be superficially meaningless.
Fiction book (1991) -
While nativist reactions have been explored, intergroup relations are often ignored or treated superficially.
Academic text (1996) -
We only go superficially into it.
-
And the joy had gone and I was very embarrassed because superficially everything was good.
-
A few buildings were destroyed, and a few hundred were damaged, most of them superficially.
Academic text (2015) -
And we talked very superficially about about the the biological process going from DNA to protein.
-
Neither is conservation as easy as superficially recognizing a given leader's participation in decision making.
Academic text (1997) -
We form opinions about others so quickly, so hastily, so impulsively, so superficially, without knowing much about them or their situations.
-
The result was a superficially homogeneous Cajun-French population that stood in contrast to a diverse Afro-French population.
Academic text (1999) -
Maurice is always courteous and at least superficially resigned to his fate as a depressive without a cure.
Academic text (2011)
Synonyms
As something looks from the outside, not as it really is
In a way that changes how something looks but not how it works
In a way that is near the surface or without deep thought
Quickly and not carefully, so you miss details
Antonyms
How Superficial
Surface Forms
Morphology
superficially = superficial (transparent) = superficial + ly
Standard adverbial formation from the adjective 'superficial', so the meaning 'in a surface-level way' is directly derived.
Etymology
Superficially comes from the parts super- ('above') and the same root as face, so it literally means 'on the surface' or 'on the face'. That's why to do something superficially is to do it only on the surface and not 'deeply' or completely.