desultory

[des-uh l-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee]

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adjective

lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.

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 -tory¹

Related formsdes·ul·to·ri·ly, adverbdes·ul·to·ri·ness, noun

Synonyms for desultory

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1. See haphazard.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for desultory

chaotic, haphazard, aimless, erratic, chance, deviating, rambling, unstable, unsystematic, orderless

Examples from the Web for desultory

Contemporary Examples of desultory

The Americans and their allies are carrying out a desultory air campaign in Syria that appears focused on support for the Kurds.
Time Is Running Out for Obama on Syria
Jamie Dettmer
October 30, 2014
Yammara has been sleeping in desultory fashion with a student, Aura, who then turns up pregnant and moves in with him.
Haunted by the Coca Leaf in ‘The Sound of Things Falling’
Susan Straight
July 31, 2013
His closing argument was a “desultory mess,” so bad that he lost the case.
Errol Morris’s “A Wilderness of Error” Revisits Jeffrey MacDonald Case
Raymond Bonner
August 30, 2012
Most of that is the desultory ticky-tacky kind that litters the right side of people's Facebook profiles.
Facebook's Dilemma: Invade Privacy or Go Bust
David Frum
May 24, 2012
Libya sank into civil war with NATO's desultory participation taking it toward stalemate, maybe even break-up.
Middle East Revolutions Off the Rails
Christopher Dickey
April 10, 2011

Historical Examples of desultory

After some desultory conversation I told him who I was and how I came to be there.
Biography of a Slave
Charles Thompson
The best as a novel it cannot be called, because the action is desultory in the extreme.
Sir Walter Scott
George Saintsbury
They did not even answer the desultory fire directed at the loopholes.
A Set of Six
Joseph Conrad
Troops may be exposed to desultory shelling during the day or night.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume 2
Ian Hamilton
The interchange of musketry, eastward there, had a desultory, waiting sound.
The Long Roll
Mary Johnston

British Dictionary definitions for desultory

desultory

adjective

passing or jumping from one thing to another, esp in a fitful way; unmethodical; disconnected
occurring in a random or incidental way; haphazarda desultory thought

Derived Formsdesultorily, adverbdesultoriness, noun

Word Origin for desultory

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

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

Word Origin and History for desultory

adj.

1580s, "skipping about," from Latin desultorius "hasty, casual, superficial," adjective form of desultor (n.) "a rider in the circus who jumps from one horse to another while they are in gallop," from desul-, stem of desilire "jump down," from de- "down" (see de-) + salire "to jump, leap" (see salient (adj.)). Sense of "irregular, without aim or method" is c.1740. Related: Desultorily; desultoriness.