desultorilyadv.
/ˈdɛsəltərɪli/ In a desultory or random manner; unmethodically.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > [adverb] > unmethodically
immethodically1624
amethodically1631
unmethodically1632
desultorily1664
any old how1904
1664 J. Evelyn Mem. (1857) III. 146 Or else he had not passed so desultorily our Universities and the Navy.
1803 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 10 306 The late influenza..proceeded desultorily in some cases, in others it was more regularly progressive.
1812 P. B. Shelley Let. 7 July (1964) I. 315 Have I written desultorily?
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles I. v. 74 They had spent some time wandering desultorily.
1891 J. C. Atkinson Forty Years Moorland Parish 324 Birds hopping slowly and desultorily about.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1895; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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adv.1664