desultory
desultory — adjective
- desultorypositive
- more desultorycomparative
- most desultorysuperlative
1. lacking a settled plan or consistent purpose, showing little commitment or energ
lacking a settled plan or consistent purpose, showing little commitment or energy.
Bilal made a desultory attempt to clean his room but gave up and sat down.
desultory attempt — collocation for half-hearted effort
At dinner the conversation was desultory, jumping from weather to old films to local news.
desultory conversation — collocation for unfocused talk
Sayaka's desultory reading habits meant she never finished a single book that summer.
Ignacio wandered through the museum in a desultory way, stopping only briefly at each painting.
The students' desultory efforts showed in their incomplete homework and blank looks.
- aimless
focuses on lack of direction; less emphasis on lack of effort
- haphazard
suggests randomness and lack of organisation, often with a messy result
- half-hearted
emphasises lack of effort or enthusiasm more than lack of plan
- random
less formal; focuses on the unpredictable or unplanned nature
- purposeful
having a clear aim and direction
- systematic
done according to a fixed plan or method
- focused
directed at a single goal or subject
文法句型
desultory + noun
用法筆記
Typically used before nouns (attributive) to describe actions, efforts, or conversations, rather than to describe a person's character directly.