cursory

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 2, 2008 is: cursory • \KER-suh-ree\ • adjective : rapidly and often superficially performed or produced : hasty Examples: A cursory reading of the syllabus made it clear that Professor Leary's sociology class was not going to be as easy as we had anticipated. Did you know? "Cursory" and its synonyms "superficial" and "shallow" all mean "lacking in depth or solidity" -- but these words are not used in exactly the same way in all cases. "Cursory," which comes from the Latin verb "currere" ("to run"), implies speed and stresses a lack of attention to detail. While "cursory" suggests a lack of thoroughness, "superficial" implies a concern only with surface aspects or obvious features. An analysis of a problem might be labeled "superficial" if it considers only the obvious and fails to dig deeper into the issue. "Shallow" is more generally derogatory in implying lack of depth in knowledge, reasoning, emotions, or character, as in "insensitive and shallow comments." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.