desultory
adjective
Herman Wouk 
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The Latin adjective desultorius was used by the ancients to refer to a circus performer (called a desultor) whose trick was to leap from horse to horse without stopping. It makes sense, then, that someone or something desultory "jumps" from one thing to another. (Desultor and desultorius, by the way, come from the Latin verb salire, meaning "to leap.") A desultory conversation leaps from one topic to another and doesn't have a distinct point or direction. A desultory student skips from one subject to another without applying serious effort to any particular one. A desultory comment is a digressive one that jumps away from the topic at hand. And a desultory performance is one resulting from an implied lack of steady, focused effort.
Synonyms
- aimless
- arbitrary
- catch-as-catch-can
- erratic
- haphazard
- helter-skelter
- hit-or-miss
- random
- scattered
- slapdash
- stray
Example Sentences
New York Times, 30 July 2022 Thomas played a final, desultory season with the Jets, then went home to Georgia, his life at a crossroads. New York Times, 5 July 2022 So King came to the camp and fell into its desultory rhythm marked by the white noise of daytime traffic below and moan of the fog horns at night. Ruben Vivesstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 26 May 2022 Bran and Peter embark on a desultory pseudo-romance that’s threatened when Peter decides to leave UCLA and transfer to Harvard. Michael Schaub, BostonGlobe.com, 19 May 2022 Yet by noon, life continued at its desultory pace as people began to stir in the dozen structures pressed against the guardrail over the 101 Freeway in downtown L.A. Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2022 The Wizrd and Save Me EP; and 2020’s one-two punch of desultory hive-bait, High Off Life and Pluto x Baby Pluto, the latter with Lil Uzi Vert. Mosi Reeves, Rolling Stone, 29 Apr. 2022 Disenchanted with the Texans after a desultory 4-12 season amid front office dysfunction, Watson requested a trade. New York Times, 11 Mar. 2022 The Ávila family moved out in 1869, and the place slipped into desultory habitation. Los Angeles Times, 19 Apr. 2022 See More Word History
Latin desultorius, literally, of a circus rider who leaps from horse to horse, from desilire to leap down, from de- + salire to leap — more at sally
1581, in the meaning defined at sense 1
desultory
adjective
Synonyms & Similar Words
- random
- scattered
- arbitrary
- erratic
- aimless
- haphazard
- sporadic
- stray
- slapdash
- accidental
- casual
- contingent
- lucky
- odd
- irregular
- catch-as-catch-can
- hit-or-miss
- scattershot
- helter-skelter
- chance
- incidental
- shotgun
- chancy
- inadvertent
- directionless
- unsystematic
- unpremeditated
- spot
- fortuitous
- unplanned
- purposeless
- indiscriminate
- objectless
- unconsidered
- unintentional
- unintended
- disorganized
- flukey
- unselective
- fluky
- disorderly
- undiscriminating
- undirected
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- systematic
- regular
- methodical
- regular
- continuous
- orderly
- constant
- steady
- methodic
- organized
- stable
- fixed
- nonrandom
- systematized
- established
- deliberate
- even
- arranged
- set
- purposeful
- conscious
- planned
- thoughtful
- aware
- wilful
- managed
- ordered
- willful
- orchestrated
Synonyms & Similar Words
- rambling
- meandering
- wandering
- indirect
- discursive
- excursive
- maundering
- digressive
- leaping
- circuitous
- roundabout
- digressionary
- digressional
- deviating
- devious
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- coherent
- consistent
- logical
- direct
- focused
- undeviating
- straightforward
- focussed