cursory
Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French cursoire, from Latin cursorius.

Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈkɜː.sə.ɹi/, /ˈkɜːs.ɹi/
  • (America) IPA: /ˈkɝː.sə.ɹi/, /ˈkɝːs.ɹi/
  • (New Zealand) IPA: /ˈkɵː.sɘ.ɹi/, /ˈkɵːs.ɹi/
Adjective

cursory

  1. Hasty or superficial.
    cursory glance
    Most junk mail requires only a cursory glance.
    • 1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter I, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume I, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC ↗, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=emu.010001278701;view=1up;seq=69 page 53]:
      But the cursory glance my father had taken of my volume by no means assured me that he was acquainted with its contents, and I continued to read with the greatest avidity.
    • 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC ↗:
      She accepted these terms, and slid off on the near side, though not till he had stolen a cursory kiss.
    • 1913 January–May, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Gods of Mars”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC ↗; republished as The Gods of Mars, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., 1918 September, →OCLC ↗:
      I may say that that single cursory examination of this awful travesty on Nature would have proved quite sufficient to my desires had I been a free agent.
  2. Careless or desultory.
    The cursory inspection missed several irregularities.
  3. (obsolete) Running about; not stationary.
Related terms Translations


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