cursory

English · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

cursory

/ˈkɜː.sə.ɹi/ UK
/ˈkɜːs.ɹi/ UK
/ˈkɝː.sə.ɹi/ US
/ˈkɝːs.ɹi/ US
/ˈkɵː.sɘ.ɹi/ New Zealand
/ˈkɵːs.ɹi/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)s(ə)ɹi

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Middle French cursoire (“rapid”), from Latin cursorius (“hasty, of a race or running”).

adjective more cursory · most cursory

Hasty or superficial. cursory glance
Similar: fleeting, swift, cursory, express, fast, expeditious, feverish, fleet, greased lightning, hasty, hectic, hectical
Careless or desultory. The cursory inspection missed several irregularities.
Similar: unmethodical, negligent, careless, cursory, derelict, heedless, irregardless, irrespective, lash, lax, incautious, neglectful
obsolete Running about; not stationary.
Similar: dynamic, mobile, afoot, animate, astir, cursory, in motion, moving, on the move, on the wing, under sail, unstill

Translations

Every language

adj hasty, superficial

Français	rapide, superficiel
Deutsch	oberflächlich, flüchtig
Italiano	rapido, distratto, sbrigativo
Русский	бе́глый béglyj, пове́рхностный povérxnostnyj

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"cursory." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/cursory. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

cursory. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/cursory

Chicago

"cursory." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/cursory.

BibTeX

@misc{cursory_2026,
  title = {cursory},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/cursory},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}