desultory

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Icahn plans to "[offer] up anecdotes and a running commentary on what he describes as the desultory state of corporate governance in America."

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Definitions (9)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. adjective Having no set plan; haphazard or random. See Synonyms at chance.
  2. adjective Moving or jumping from one thing to another; disconnected: a desultory speech.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (5)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples

  • This exploration was desultory, and without much result. —  The First White Man of the West
  • His mind seems to have been tumultuous and desultory, and he was glad to catch any employment that might produce attention without anxiety; such employment, as Dr. Battie has observed, is necessary for madmen. ' —  Life Of Johnson
  • It was past noon and there were still no signs of life from the British lines except for a desultory gunshot once in a while. —  Sharpe's Tiger
  • Icahn plans to "[offer] up anecdotes and a running commentary on what he describes as the desultory state of corporate governance in America." —  Dealbreaker
  • We have already spoken of the gratifying character of what he termed his desultory remarks and of the cordially enthusiastic manner in which both the orator and his address were received. —  Speeches of the Hon. Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi; delivered during the summer of 1858.
 

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Desultory has been looked up 1102 times, favorited 7 times, listed 118 times, and commented on 10 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Suggestions Wordniks Suggest

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

cursory ·  fruitless ·  aimless ·  intermittent ·  fragmentary ·  perfunctory ·  informal ·  tentative ·  lengthy ·  sporadic ·  hasty ·  random
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Latin dēsultōrius, leaping, from dēsultor, a leaper, from dēsultus, past participle of dēsilīre, to leap down : dē-, de- + salīre, to jump; see sel- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Latin desultorius, of or pertaining to a vaulter or circus-rider, inconstant, fickle, from desultor, a vaulter, circus-rider, who leaped from horse to horse without stopping, from desilire, past participle desultus, leap down, from de, down, + salire, leap: see salient.
 

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/ˈdɛsəltəri/
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