desultory
adjective
Herman Wouk
Did you know?
The Latin adjective desultorius was used by the ancients to refer to a circus performer (called a desultor) whose trick was to leap from horse to horse without stopping. It makes sense, then, that someone or something desultory "jumps" from one thing to another. (Desultor and desultorius, by the way, come from the Latin verb salire, meaning "to leap.") A desultory conversation leaps from one topic to another and doesn't have a distinct point or direction. A desultory student skips from one subject to another without applying serious effort to any particular one. A desultory comment is a digressive one that jumps away from the topic at hand. And a desultory performance is one resulting from an implied lack of steady, focused effort.
Examples of desultory in a Sentence
Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Mar. 2025
But the Academy really didn’t go for Revolutionary Road, which received a Supporting Actor nod for Michael Shannon (back row, 11th from right) and desultory nominations for Art Direction and Costume Design but nothing for Winslet or her co-star Leonardo DiCaprio.
—Zach Schonfeld, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2025
But by the early 1970s, he was ravaged by drug addiction, kicking off a cycle of spirals and comebacks and sporadic, desultory live appearances.
—Rob Tannenbaum, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2025
Aside from a refreshingly unresolved ending (with a brief appearance from the titular apparatus), The Kissing Booth 3 is a desultory conclusion to a mostly upbeat series.
—Josh Bell, Vulture, 13 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desultory
Cite this Entry
“Desultory.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/desultory. Accessed 3 Apr. 2025.
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desultory
adjective
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