cursory

Cursory — Cur so*ry (k?r s? r?), a. [L. cursorius, fr. cursor. See {Cursor}.] 1. Running about; not stationary. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] 2. Characterized by haste; hastily or superficially performed; slight; superficial; careless. [1913 Webster] Events far… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

cursory — I adjective apathetic, brief, careless, casual, desultory, hasty, heedless, hurried, immethodical, inattentive, incautious, indifferent, lax, offhand, passing, perfunctory, quick, rapid, regardless, shallow, short, slapdash, slipshod, speedy,… …   Law dictionary

cursory — c.1600, from M.Fr. cursoire rapid, from L.L. cursorius hasty, of a race or running, from L. curs , pp. stem of currere to run (see CURRENT (Cf. current)) …   Etymology dictionary

cursory — *superficial, shallow, uncritical Analogous words: hasty, speedy, quick, rapid, swift, *fast: *brief, short: casual, desultory, *random, haphazard Antonyms: painstaking Contrasted words: meticulous, *careful …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

cursory — [adj] casual, hasty brief, careless, depthless, desultory, fast, half assed*, halfbaked*, haphazard, hit or miss*, hurried, offhand, passing, perfunctory, quick, random, rapid, shallow, short, sketchy, slapdash, slight, sloppy, speedy, summary,… …   New thesaurus

cursory — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ hasty and therefore not thorough. DERIVATIVES cursorily adverb cursoriness noun …   English terms dictionary

cursory — [kʉr′sə rē] adj. [LL cursorius < cursor, runner < cursus: see COURSE] hastily, often superficially, done; performed rapidly with little attention to detail SYN. SUPERFICIAL cursorily adv. cursoriness n …   English World dictionary

cursory — cur|so|ry [ˈkə:səri US ˈkə:r ] adj [Date: 1600 1700; : Late Latin; Origin: cursorius of running , from Latin currere; CURRENT1] done very quickly without much attention to details cursory glance/look ▪ Even a cursory glance at the figures will… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

cursory — [[t]kɜ͟ː(r)səri[/t]] ADJ GRADED: ADJ n A cursory glance or examination is a brief one in which you do not pay much attention to detail. Burke cast a cursory glance at the menu, then flapped it shut... I gave the letter a fairly cursory reading.… …   English dictionary

cursory — adjective Etymology: Late Latin cursorius of running, from Latin currere Date: 1601 rapidly and often superficially performed or produced ; hasty < a cursory glance > Synonyms: see superficial • cursorily …   New Collegiate Dictionary

cursory — cursorily, adv. cursoriness, n. /kerr seuh ree/, adj. going rapidly over something, without noticing details; hasty; superficial: a cursory glance at a newspaper article. [1595 1605; < LL cursorius running, equiv. to L cur(rere) to run + sorius,… …   Universalium