1
as in random
lacking a definite plan, purpose, or pattern
a desultory search for something of interest on TV
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in rambling
passing from one topic to another
a desultory discussion about the news of the day
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of desultory
Daniel Gordon’s film focused on the 100-meter final at the Seoul Olympics, a race that was dominated by Ben Johnson, who then abdicated the crown after a positive steroid test, leaving Carl Lewis as the desultory victor.
—
Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Mar. 2025
But the Academy really didn’t go for Revolutionary Road, which received a Supporting Actor nod for Michael Shannon (back row, 11th from right) and desultory nominations for Art Direction and Costume Design but nothing for Winslet or her co-star Leonardo DiCaprio.
—Zach Schonfeld, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2025
But by the early 1970s, he was ravaged by drug addiction, kicking off a cycle of spirals and comebacks and sporadic, desultory live appearances.
—Rob Tannenbaum, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2025
Its most striking element is a tall glassy lobby that will provide a grand entrance from the new plaza, but the rest of the building is driven by functional massing that’s been sheathed with a desultory screen of metal and glass.
—Edward Keegan, Chicago Tribune, 26 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desultory
Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Mar. 2025
But the Academy really didn’t go for Revolutionary Road, which received a Supporting Actor nod for Michael Shannon (back row, 11th from right) and desultory nominations for Art Direction and Costume Design but nothing for Winslet or her co-star Leonardo DiCaprio.
—Zach Schonfeld, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2025
But by the early 1970s, he was ravaged by drug addiction, kicking off a cycle of spirals and comebacks and sporadic, desultory live appearances.
—Rob Tannenbaum, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2025
Its most striking element is a tall glassy lobby that will provide a grand entrance from the new plaza, but the rest of the building is driven by functional massing that’s been sheathed with a desultory screen of metal and glass.
—Edward Keegan, Chicago Tribune, 26 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desultory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desultory
Adjective
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Avoid long strings of random numbers, special characters or irrelevant details.—
Nick Zviadadze,
Forbes.com,
9 June 2025
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Previous studies landed on either side of the one coin: the formation was random, or that the animals deliberately took up positions that protected vulnerable animals from attack.—
Bronwyn Thompson,
New Atlas,
7 June 2025
Adjective
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Refine your key points to be clear and concise—no rambling monologues.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
15 Apr. 2025
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In the early morning hours of Dec. 26, 1996, Patsy Ramsey called 911 to report her 6-year-old daughter JonBenét missing, and found a rambling ransom note left inside their Boulder, Colorado, home.—
Erin Moriarty,
CBS News,
20 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Rebecca Solnit Writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit is the author of more than twenty-five books on feminism, western and urban history, popular power, social change and insurrection, wandering and walking, hope and catastrophe.—
Rebecca Solnit
May 29,
Literary Hub,
29 May 2025
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Starting during that period and continuing over the decades, Andersen very much lived the life of the wandering, nomadic poet-writer.—
David Browne,
Rolling Stone,
4 June 2025
Adjective
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State lawmakers can and should repeal the arbitrary two-year rule.—
Sakinah Tillman,
Baltimore Sun,
4 June 2025
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Officials have often shaken this number off as arbitrary, but agree military spending needs to surge from the 2 percent benchmark of the last decade, and quickly.—
Ellie Cook,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 June 2025
Adjective
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Now imagine all that generating capacity approved by relevant agencies but turned back by the courts under NEPA because the agencies had not sufficiently considered the indirect effects of unrelated projects outside their jurisdiction.—
Stephen L. Carter,
Twin Cities,
6 June 2025
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This is direct communication (phallocentric) vs indirect communication (gynocentric).—
Abid Rahman,
HollywoodReporter,
6 June 2025
Adjective
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According to Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, the team's complaint is due to erratic driving behind the safety car and not leaving an appropriate gap.—
Nelson Espinal,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 June 2025
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And some erratic vibrations were detected at points last week as the stark outperformance of year-to-date laggards over the top 2025 performers prompted some comparisons to the nasty momentum-stock reversal of February and March that upset the market well before the tariff panic.—
Michael Santoli,
CNBC,
14 June 2025
Adjective
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All this becomes a bit discursive, and frankly, dull — almost like a coastal Carlos Saura family portrait without the politics and without the clean lines and character definition to make the sprawl of relatives especially interesting.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Sep. 2019
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And it’s also arrived at a particular moment, in a particular discursive world, in which opinions are strong, objections are instant, and differences are emphasized.—
Joshua Rothman,
New Yorker,
27 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Desultory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desultory. Accessed 20 Jun. 2025.
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