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Webster 1913 Edition
Desultory
Des′ul-to-ry
,Adj.
[L.
desultorius
, fr. desultor
a leaper, fr. desilire
, desultum
, to leap down; de
+ salire
to leap. See Saltation
.] 1.
Leaping or skipping about.
[Obs.]
I shot at it [a bird], but it was so
desultory
that I missed my aim. Gilbert White.
2.
Jumping, or passing, from one thing or subject to another, without order or rational connection; without logical sequence; disconnected; immethodical; aimless;
as,
. desultory
mindsAtterbury.
He [Goldsmith] knew nothing accurately; his reading had been
desultory
. Macaulay.
Syn. – Rambling; roving; immethodical; discursive; inconstant; unsettled; cursory; slight; hasty; loose.
Webster 1828 Edition
Desultory
DESULTORY
,Adj.
1.
Leaping; passing from one thing or subject to another, without order or natural connection; unconnected; immethodical; as a desultory conversation.2.
Coming suddenly; started at the moment; not proceeding from natural order or connection with what precedes; as a desultory thought.Definition 2024
desultory
desultory
English
Adjective
desultory (comparative more desultory, superlative most desultory)
- Jumping, or passing, from one thing or subject to another, without order, planning, or rational connection; without logical sequence.
- 1850, Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, Chapter 25
- To mend the matter, Hamlet's aunt had the family failing of indulging in soliloquy, and held forth in a desultory manner, by herself, on every topic that was introduced.
- He wandered round, cleaning up in a desultory way.
- I teach a class of desultory minds.
- 1850, Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, Chapter 25
- Out of course; by the way; as a digression; not connected with the subject.
- I made a desultory remark while I was talking to my friend.
- She made a desultory attempt at conversation.
- Disappointing in performance or progress.
- (obsolete) Leaping, skipping or flitting about, generally in a random or unsteady manner.
Synonyms
- (proceeding without rational order or connection): disconnected; unmethodical; aimless
Derived terms
Translations
jumping, or passing, from one thing or subject to another, without order or rational connection
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out of course; by the way; as a digression; not connected with the subject
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disappointing in performance or progress
leaping or skipping about
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References
- desultory in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913