skin-deep

American  

[skin-deep] / ˈskɪnˈdip /

adjective

1. superficial or slight; not profound or substantial.

   Their sincerity is only skin-deep.

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adverb

1. slightly; superficially.

   He went into the subject only skin-deep.

skin-deep British  

adjective

1. superficial; shallow

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adverb

1. superficially

skin deep Idioms  

1. see beauty is only skin deep.

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Etymology

Origin of skin-deep

First recorded in 1605–15

Explanation

Anything that's skin-deep is shallow or superficial. Your skin-deep commitment to saving the environment isn't terribly serious. You may have heard the saying "beauty is only skin-deep," which means that while someone may be beautiful on the outside, their character—what's inside, and more meaningful—isn't necessarily attractive. The first attested use of skin-deep was in "A Wife," a 1613 poem by Sir Thomas Overbury: "All the carnall beauty of my wife, Is but skin-deep." Its publication infamously resulted in Overbury's murder when its subject deduced that it was about her.

Example Sentences

The story may be only skin-deep, but Banks and Pullman find something truthfully hopeless in these surface pleasures.”

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 18, 2024

But the most spirited discussions at Cannes are over whether the movie is trenchant or skin-deep.

From New York Times • May 22, 2024

Studies exploring skin-deep resilience have found evidence of a health toll in outwardly resilient young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds, including higher risk of inflammation, immune cell aging, metabolic disorders, and chronic disease.

From Science Daily • Jan. 4, 2024

Solidarity with the brave people of Ukraine has reminded us all what is possible when empathy is really felt, but it will be bittersweet if our solidarity is really just skin-deep.

From Washington Post • Feb. 28, 2022

They were also forced to live with skin-deep guilt brought on by the treatment of their former Nisei schoolmates.

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou