desultory
Americanadjective
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lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful.
desultory conversation.
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digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random.
a desultory remark.
adjective
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passing or jumping from one thing to another, esp in a fitful way; unmethodical; disconnected
-
occurring in a random or incidental way; haphazard
a desultory thought
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of desultory
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 -tory 1
Explanation
If you lack a definite plan or purpose and flit from one thing to another, your actions are desultory. Some people call such desultory wanderings spontaneous. Others call it "being lost." The adjective desultory comes from the word desultor, which was a circus rider who would leap from the back of one galloping horse onto another. From this literal sense of jumping from one thing to another, we get the modern meaning of desultory as jumping between things without a logical purpose.
Vocabulary lists containing desultory
Behave Yourself! Vocabulary for Good, Bad, and Indifferent Conduct
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And Then There Were None
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"Marita's Bargain," Vocabulary from the essay
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Desultory teams want The Next Mahomes, but what if there isn’t one?
From New York Times • Dec. 28, 2018
Desultory peace talks among representatives of the Russian government, the Moscow-installed Chechen government and General Dudayev were suspended last month after General Anatoly Romanov, commander of all Russian troops, was gravely wounded.
From Time Magazine Archive
Desultory trade was kept up by the English until the middle of the seventeenth century, when English chartered slave-trading companies began to appear.
From The Negro by Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt)
Desultory firing took place all night long, the Indians blazing away indiscriminately—they had plenty of ammunition, it appeared—and the soldiers firing at the flashes of the guns.
From South American Fights and Fighters And Other Tales of Adventure by Brady, Cyrus Townsend
Desultory and objectless drawings and notes have hitherto been more or less characteristic of the work done, even by those who have given more than ordinary attention to the moon.
From The Moon A Full Description and Map of its Principal Physical Features by Elger, Thomas Gwyn
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
