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
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of desultory
My identity, too, felt indeterminate in this desultory period between separation and divorce.
—
Terry Nguyen
july 23, Literary Hub, 23 July 2025
But the Delgados are somehow worse in their desultory family dramas, with the useless Xavier trying to prove himself to Reuben, and Isabella adopting a baby aquilops, a series of sitcom story lines dropped into the jungle.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 30 June 2025
The Stanley Cup-holding Florida Panthers got there with Friday night’s desultory 2-0 home loss to the Maple Leafs to put their second round series at 3-3.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 18 May 2025
The desultory attention to regional conditions compromises the book’s conclusions and recommendations.
—Suzanne Maloney, Foreign Affairs, 10 Dec. 2019
See All Example Sentences for desultory
Terry Nguyen
july 23, Literary Hub, 23 July 2025
But the Delgados are somehow worse in their desultory family dramas, with the useless Xavier trying to prove himself to Reuben, and Isabella adopting a baby aquilops, a series of sitcom story lines dropped into the jungle.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 30 June 2025
The Stanley Cup-holding Florida Panthers got there with Friday night’s desultory 2-0 home loss to the Maple Leafs to put their second round series at 3-3.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 18 May 2025
The desultory attention to regional conditions compromises the book’s conclusions and recommendations.
—Suzanne Maloney, Foreign Affairs, 10 Dec. 2019
See All Example Sentences for desultory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desultory
Adjective
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Police have started planning for next year’s New Year’s events, including traffic control and celebratory random gunfire, Comeaux said.—
Timia Cobb
Breaking News Reporter,
Dallas Morning News,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Powering through the memory shortage Memory costs — primarily referring to DRAM, or dynamic random access memory used for temporary, short-term semiconductor memory and NAND used for long-term storage — have soared over the past year due to rising compute needs from AI data centers.—
Pia Singh,
CNBC,
29 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Also in the village, with lower prices, the June Lake Villager Motel is a rambling property beneath a vintage mid-century sign.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Jan. 2026
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Her editor figured that Bainbridge could get away with a rambling, nostalgic performance.—
Christopher Tayler,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Its fractured, scattered form, grasping for structure instead of pretending to master it, is an attempt to build a future that will include both author and reader.—
Robert Rubsam,
The Atlantic,
1 Jan. 2026
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On Sunday, rain will pick up across the Midwest from Kansas and Missouri through Ohio and Pennsylvania while scattered thunderstorms are possible from Arkansas up to Ohio, with some possibly strong enough to bring gusty winds and maybe an isolated tornado.—
Kyle Reiman,
ABC News,
27 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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Like a lot of messy divorces, this started with a wandering eye, a lover scorned and boils down to the money.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
21 Jan. 2026
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After spending a few days, a wandering light leads them to the next world.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
15 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The memorandum filed Monday argues the court should not adopt the deferential standard of arbitrary or capricious.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
27 Jan. 2026
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The judge also said the administration’s decision had been arbitrary and capricious, given its failure to consider Vineyard Wind’s interest in having the project continue on its schedule to a March completion.—
Mark Chediak,
Bloomberg,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Their clean collisions would allow more precise measurements of scattering amplitudes, making the FCC ultrasensitive to indirect signs of new physics.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
26 Jan. 2026
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Unemployment, in an indirect way, is another.—
Matt Richardson,
CBS News,
26 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Engram’s impact at TE1 was erratic, though, to put it kindly.—
Sean Keeler,
Denver Post,
27 Jan. 2026
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Even for a politician known for erratic policy shifts, this swap—of longtime democratic partners that have sacrificed much for America’s benefit in exchange for an authoritarian regime intent on undermining it—is bizarre.—
Michael Schuman,
The Atlantic,
26 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The instructional promise of each episode was a bit, a starting point for discursive, funny, intermittently personal mini-essays that always started in Wilson’s beloved New York, but could and did make their way anywhere.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
23 Jan. 2026
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Knowledge itself can be both logical and discursive.—
Bruce Schneier,
IEEE Spectrum,
21 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Desultory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desultory. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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