desultory - Definitions from Dictionary.com

10 results for: desultory

Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English - Cite This Source - Share This

Main Entry:	desultory¹
Part of Speech:	adj
Definition:	wavering, unsteady; erratic
Etymology:	Latin de- + salire 'to leap'

Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.7)
Copyright © 2003-2008 Lexico Publishing Group, LLC

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
desultory

To learn more about desultory visit Britannica.com

Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English - Cite This Source - Share This

Main Entry:	desultory²
Part of Speech:	adj
Definition:	irregular, unmethodical; inconsistent
Etymology:	Latin de- + salire 'to leap'

Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.7)
Copyright © 2003-2008 Lexico Publishing Group, LLC

Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English - Cite This Source - Share This

Main Entry:	desultory³
Part of Speech:	adj
Definition:	random; occurring haphazardly; digressive
Etymology:	Latin de- + salire 'to leap'

Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.7)
Copyright © 2003-2008 Lexico Publishing Group, LLC

Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English - Cite This Source - Share This

Main Entry:	desultory⁴
Part of Speech:	adj
Definition:	disappointing in quality or performance
Etymology:	Latin de- + salire 'to leap'

Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.7)
Copyright © 2003-2008 Lexico Publishing Group, LLC

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

des·ul·to·ry

Audio Help [des-uh

l-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] Pronunciation Key

–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: 1575–85; < L désultōrius pertaining to a désultor (a circus rider who jumps from one horse to another), equiv. to désul-, var. s. of désilīre to jump down (dé- de- + -silīre, comb. form of salīre to leap) + -tōrius -tory¹

]

—Related forms

des·ul·to·ri·ly, adverb

des·ul·to·ri·ness, noun

—Synonyms 1. See haphazard.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

des·ul·to·ry Audio Help (děs'əl-tôr'ē, -tōr'ē, děz'-) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Having no set plan; haphazard or random. See Synonyms at chance.
Moving or jumping from one thing to another; disconnected: a desultory speech.

[Latin dēsultōrius, leaping, from dēsultor, a leaper, from dēsultus, past participle of dēsilīre, to leap down : dē-, de- + salīre, to jump; see sel- in Indo-European roots.]

des'ul·to'ri·ly adv., des'ul·to'ri·ness n.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
desultory

1581, "skipping about," from L. desultorius, adj. form of desultur "hasty, casual, superficial," lit. noun meaning "a rider in the circus who jumped from one horse to another while they are in gallop," from desul-, stem of desilire "jump down," from de- "down" + salire "to jump, leap" (see salient). Sense of "irregular" is c.1740.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

desultory
adjective
marked by lack of definite plan or regularity or purpose; jumping from one thing to another; "desultory thoughts"; "the desultory conversation characteristic of cocktail parties"

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Desultory

Des"ul*to*ry\, a. [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 minds. --Atterbury.

He [Goldsmith] knew nothing accurately; his reading had been desultory. --Macaulay.

3. Out of course; by the way; as a digression; not connected with the subject; as, a desultory remark.

Syn: Rambling; roving; immethodical; discursive; inconstant; unsettled; cursory; slight; hasty; loose.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day Archive - Cite This Source - Share This

desultory

desultory was Word of the Day on June 23, 1999.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Browse Nearby Entries: