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
David Aldridge, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2025
Although the United States and its allies could deal with such ripostes, there would be no obvious military strategy to bring even a desultory exchange of strikes and counterstrikes to an end.
—Barry R. Posen, Foreign Affairs, 7 Sep. 2010
Daniel Gordon’s film focused on the 100-meter final at the Seoul Olympics, a race that was dominated by Ben Johnson, who then abdicated the crown after a positive steroid test, leaving Carl Lewis as the desultory victor.
—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
See All Example Sentences for desultory
Cite this Entry
“Desultory.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/desultory. Accessed 24 Apr. 2025.
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desultory
adjective
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