hastily, often superficially, done; performed rapidly with little attention to detail
Origin of cursory
Late Latin cursorius from cursor, runner from cursus: see course
adjective
The definition of cursory is something done quickly with only a small attention to detail.
An example of cursory is when you only look over your notes for two minutes before a test instead of studying.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"Cursory." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/CURSORY.
APA Style
Cursory. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/CURSORY
cursory
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"Cursory." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/CURSORY.
APA Style
Cursory. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/CURSORY
cursory
adjective
Performed with haste and scant attention to detail: a cursory glance at the headlines.
Origin of cursory
Late Latin cursōrius of running from Latin cursor runner ; see cursor .Related Forms:
- cur′so·ri·ly
adverb
- cur′so·ri·ness
noun
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"Cursory." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/CURSORY.
APA Style
Cursory. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/CURSORY
Adjective
(comparative more cursory, superlative most cursory)
- hasty; superficial; careless
- Most junk mail requires only a cursory glance.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"Cursory." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/CURSORY.
APA Style
Cursory. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/CURSORY
Sentence Examples
- After a cursory look, she moved on.
- She used wax to bind the partially severed ends together, just enough that a cursory glance wouldn't disclose what she'd done.
- Dean located Jonathan Winston and related what Fred had seen but it was clear the FBI officer doubted the identification and gave only a cursory nod and a promise to look into it.
- But Luxemburg, riding up with his advanced guard from Velaine, decided, after a cursory survey of the ground, to attack the front and both flanks of the Allies' position at once - a decision which few, if any, generals then living would have dared to make, and which of itself places Luxemburg in the same rank as a tactician as his old friend and commander Conde.
- The true Tapaculo (P. albicollis) has a general resemblance in plumage to the females of some of the smaller Shrikes (Lanius), and to a cursory observer its skin might pass for that of one; but its shortened wings and powerful feet would on closer inspection at once reveal the difference.
» more...