desultory

English

WOTD – 7 February 2009

Etymology

From Latin dēsultōrius (“hasty, casual, superficial”), from dēsultor (“a circus rider who jumped from one galloping horse to another”), from dēsiliō (“jump down”), from dē (“down”) + saliō (“jump, leap”).[1]

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdɛs.əl.t(ə).ɹi/, /ˈdɛz.əl.t(ə).ɹi/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈdɛs.əlˌtɔɹ.i/, /ˈdɛz.əlˌtɔɹ.i/
Audio (US) (file)
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Audio (US) (file)

Adjective

desultory (comparative more desultory, superlative most desultory)

Jumping, or passing, from one thing or subject to another, without order, planning, or rational connection; lacking logical sequence.
Synonyms: disconnected, unmethodical, aimless, quodlibetic, (in conversation) quodlibetical
- 1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, chapter 25, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, OCLC 558196156:
  To mend the matter, Hamlet's aunt had the family failing of indulging in soliloquy, and held forth in a desultory manner, by herself, on every topic that was introduced.
- 2005, Tony Judt, “The Coming of the Cold War”, in Postwar: A history of Europe since 1945, London: Vintage Books, published 2010, →ISBN:
  The Benelux Customs Union came into effect on January 1st 1948, and there followed desultory conversations between the Benelux countries, France and Italy over projects to extend such cooperation across a larger space.
- 2010, Jennifer Egan, “You (Plural)”, in A Visit from the Goon Squad:
  ‘Your desultory twenties,’ my mother calls my lost time, trying to make it sound reasonable and fun, but it started before I was twenty and lasted much longer.
He wandered round, cleaning up in a desultory way.
I teach a class of desultory minds.
Out of course; by the way; not connected with the subject.
I made a desultory remark while I was talking to my friend.
She made a desultory attempt at conversation.
Disappointing in performance or progress.
(obsolete) Leaping, skipping or flitting about, generally in a random or unsteady manner.

Derived terms

desultorily

Related terms

salient

Translations

jumping, or passing, from one thing or subject to another, without order or rational connection

Bulgarian: безреден (bg) (bezreden), безсистемен (bg) (bezsistemen)
Czech: roztěkaný
Dutch: onsamenhangend (nl)
German: sprunghaft (de)
Maori: paihore
Norwegian: springende
Polish: nieporządny (pl) m, chaotyczny (pl) m, bezładny (pl) m
Portuguese: desultório
Russian: беспорядочный (ru) (besporjadočnyj), несвязанный (ru) (nesvjazannyj)
Serbo-Croatian: nepovezan (sh), rasut (sh)
Spanish: incoherente (es)
Ukrainian: безладний (uk) m (bezladnyj), хаотичний m (xaotyčnyj)

out of course; by the way; not connected with the subject

Czech: nesouvislý
Latvian: nesakarīgs m
Norwegian: malapropos
Russian: несвязный (ru) (nesvjaznyj)
Serbo-Croatian: nepovezan (sh), nesuvisao (sh)
Ukrainian: непов'язаний m (nepovʺjazanyj), недоладний m (nedoladnyj)

disappointing in performance or progress

Chinese:
Cantonese: 散漫嘅 (saan² maan⁶ ge³)
Serbo-Croatian: promašen (sh)

leaping or skipping about

Bulgarian: разхвърлян (bg) (razhvǎrljan)

References

Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “desultory”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

Stroudley

[1] Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “desultory”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.