cursory
[kur-suh-ree]
- going rapidly over something, without noticing details; hasty; superficial: a cursory glance at a newspaper article.
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Origin of cursory
Synonyms
See more synonyms for cursory on Thesaurus.comquick, brief, passing, haphazard.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for cursorily
Historical Examples
The wide domain of science can be but cursorily touched upon.
A Book for All ReadersAinsworth Rand Spofford
Cursorily, the district leader let his gaze wander about the apartment.
Final WeaponEverett B. Cole
The women looked at her, not curiously, or with compassion or disgust, but cursorily.
Nights in LondonThomas Burke
I must cursorily observe, that the main circumstance which struck me in this detachment, was the extreme youth of the major part.
All these difficulties are well known, therefore I refer to them only cursorily.
The Jewish StateTheodor Herzl
cursory
- hasty and usually superficial; quicka cursory check
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Word Origin
C17: from Late Latin cursōrius of running, from Latin cursus a course, from currere to run
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for cursorily
cursory
adj.
c.1600, from Middle French cursoire "rapid," from Late Latin cursorius "hasty, of a race or running," from Latin curs-, past participle stem of currere "to run" (see current (adj.)).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper