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Definition of desultory adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

desultory

adjective
 
/ˈdesəltri/
 
/ˈdesəltɔːri/
(formal)
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  1. going from one thing to another, without a definite plan and without enthusiasm
    • I wandered about in a desultory fashion.
    • a desultory conversation
    Oxford Collocations DictionaryDesultory is used with these nouns:
    • conversation
    • fashion
    See full entry
    Word Originlate 16th cent. (also in the literal sense ‘skipping about’): from Latin desultorius ‘superficial’ (literally ‘relating to a vaulter’), from desultor ‘vaulter’, from the verb desilire.
See desultory in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
influence
verb
 
 
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