skin-deep
superficial or slight; not profound or substantial: Their sincerity is only skin-deep.
slightly; superficially: He went into the subject only skin-deep.
Origin of skin-deep
1Words Nearby skin-deep
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use skin-deep in a sentence
It could be written off as largely cosmetic, but increasingly appears more than skin-deep.
"With residences as with—er—ladies, beauty is only skin deep," said he.
Tristram of Blent | Anthony HopeThe pride was only skin deep; the pluck was part of the heroic element in Annie.
A Houseful of Girls | Sarah TytlerBut if his words and writings are examined, it will be seen that this mobility was only skin-deep.
My Recollections of Lord Byron | Teresa GuiccioliPaul had been touched—a mere graze, skin deep, but still touched—by Helen Darcy's beauty and fascinations.
The Knight Of Gwynne, Vol. II (of II) | Charles James Lever
It is only later in life that ces demoiselles begin to find that their neighbour's beauty is but skin-deep.
The Isle of Unrest | Henry Seton Merriman
British Dictionary definitions for skin-deep
superficial; shallow
superficially
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with skin-deep
see beauty is only skin deep.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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