cur·so·ry

[kur-suh-ree]
adjective
going rapidly over something, without noticing details; hasty; superficial: a cursory glance at a newspaper article.

Origin:
1595–1605; < Late Latin cursōrius running, equivalent to Latin cur(rere) to run + -sōrius, for -tōrius -tory1; cf. course

cur·so·ri·ly, adverb
cur·so·ri·ness, noun


quick, brief, passing, haphazard.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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World English Dictionary
cursory (ˈkɜːsərɪ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adj
hasty and usually superficial; quick: a cursory check
 
[C17: from Late Latin cursōrius of running, from Latin cursus a course, from currere to run]
 
'cursorily
 
adv
 
'cursoriness
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10
Cursory is always a great word to know.
So is emissary. Does it mean:
common people
a representative sent on a mission or errand:
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

cursory
c.1600, from M.Fr. cursoire "rapid," from L.L. cursorius "of a race or running," from L. cursor "runner," from cursum, pp. of currere "to run" (see current).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Records from the hearings show that only a cursory effort was made to reach
  them.
Most only give the manuals a cursory glance and then only for the primary
  functions.
But, publicly, the agency released only cursory information about what the
  malware affected and how it could be mitigated.
Please ask yourself why you're so willing to discard so much evidence when you
  haven't even taken a cursory look at it.
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