desultory

[ des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee ]
See synonyms for desultory on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.

  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.

Origin of desultory

1
1575–85; <Latin dēsultōrius pertaining to a dēsultor (a circus rider who jumps from one horse to another), equivalent to dēsul-, variant stem of dēsilīre to jump down (dē-de- + -silīre, combining form of salīre to leap) + -tōrius-tory1

Other words from desultory

  • des·ul·to·ri·ly, adverb
  • des·ul·to·ri·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use desultory in a sentence

  • The war council proceeded in a desultory fashion until finally a bulletin arrived reporting that the Enemy was most definitely headed straight for Bladensburg, a town just six miles northeast of the Capitol.

  • But, tired of playing, he had desultorily come round the fence, and was rambling up behind her.

  • The public—still feeling dissatisfied—watched desultorily for a while the doings in the imperial tribune.

    "Unto Caesar" | Baroness Emmuska Orczy
  • Then I sit at my flat black desk and write desultorily for two or three or four hours.

    I, Mary MacLane | Mary MacLane
  • I cursed desultorily with a smooth whispered flow of curses, because the circumstances seemed to demand it.

    I, Mary MacLane | Mary MacLane
  • The ensuing half-hour seemed long to the girl; Filippo talked desultorily, but there were intervals of silence.

    Olive in Italy | Moray Dalton

British Dictionary definitions for desultory

desultory

/ (ˈdɛsəltərɪ, -trɪ) /


adjective
  1. passing or jumping from one thing to another, esp in a fitful way; unmethodical; disconnected

  2. occurring in a random or incidental way; haphazard: a desultory thought

Origin of desultory

1
C16: from Latin dēsultōrius, relating to one who vaults or jumps, hence superficial, from dēsilīre to jump down, from de- + salīre to jump

Derived forms of desultory

  • desultorily, adverb
  • desultoriness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012