1
as in random
lacking a definite plan, purpose, or pattern
a desultory search for something of interest on TV
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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
The presence of Notre Dame, the presence of Hannah Hidalgo, who had torched UConn twice before and is also in the national player-of-the-year conversation, the memory of a desultory loss in South Bend a year ago were enough to stoke Strong on Monday night.
—
Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 20 Jan. 2026
Once more, police made desultory enquiries and soon lost interest, their investigative resources stretched thin by a recent string of bombings in London by Irish republican extremists.
—Literary Hub, 16 Jan. 2026
Conversation at Mels Diner is desultory and disinclined to matters so impractical, uncomfortable.
—David Searcy, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
In a somewhat desultory Virginia childhood, fishing with my father was a recurring motif.
—AFAR Media, 7 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desultory
Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 20 Jan. 2026
Once more, police made desultory enquiries and soon lost interest, their investigative resources stretched thin by a recent string of bombings in London by Irish republican extremists.
—Literary Hub, 16 Jan. 2026
Conversation at Mels Diner is desultory and disinclined to matters so impractical, uncomfortable.
—David Searcy, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
In a somewhat desultory Virginia childhood, fishing with my father was a recurring motif.
—AFAR Media, 7 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desultory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desultory
Adjective
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The air rang with random alarms; the soft surfaces were mottled with mystery stains.—
Ellen Cushing,
The Atlantic,
26 Mar. 2026
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The sentence, arrived at via a sequence of random numbers thrown out by the group itself, begins the eighth paragraph of page 432 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.—
Séamas O'Reilly,
Vulture,
26 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Shinjuku Gyoen is a rambling blend of European and Japanese formal gardens that becomes a focal point of the cherry blossom season in late March.—
Stephen Kelly,
TheWeek,
26 Mar. 2026
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The four leads are overconfident and loutish, spending their time drinking, rambling, and clumsily working through their worries about the future.—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Earlier sunshine way to clouds and scattered rain as the first, in a series, of passing systems brings brief wet weather to Maryland.—
Cutter Martin,
CBS News,
20 Mar. 2026
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And in legislative committees and in debate on Wednesday, sponsors of the new requirement didn’t cite evidence of more than scattered cases in which non-citizens may have voted.—
Anthony Man,
Sun Sentinel,
26 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The adventurous rapper and producer take a more refined approach on a collaborative album full of wandering thoughts and odd, understated beats.—
Stephen Kearse,
Pitchfork,
24 Mar. 2026
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Another bill would require the Maryland Department of Health to create a webpage of resources for caregivers of individuals — due to age, disability, chronic illness or other functional limitations — including guidance on safety planning for wandering and elopement.—
Danielle J. Brown,
Baltimore Sun,
22 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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What’s to blame for all these arbitrary governing principles?—
Hershal Pandya,
Vulture,
30 Mar. 2026
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Black folks have seen the face of the US’s prerogative state—the side of the government that dispenses arbitrary jurisprudence, discriminatory law enforcement, and violence against those who challenge its authority and dominant ideologies.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Essentially, if a natural gas pipeline is being approved, the process doesn’t need to consider the indirect effects of burning the gas at a power plant.—
Jordan Blum,
Fortune,
30 Mar. 2026
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The Indonesian foreign ministry said today that the peacekeeper who was killed was an Indonesian national and that three others were injured by indirect artillery fire, Reuters reported.—
Charlene Gubash,
NBC news,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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While Boston shot 5-for-20 in the period, Atlanta went 13-for-19, including the second made three of the night from the typically erratic Dyson Daniels.—
Zack Cox,
Boston Herald,
31 Mar. 2026
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Two weeks later, the erratic nature of the Wild’s play and the outcomes haven’t changed.—
Michael Russo,
New York Times,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Real Man Adventures isn’t broken up into chapter-length sections of narrative, but rather brief, discursive essays.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 Mar. 2026
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While forming a global network of thinkers, the IPS has developed over the past five years to critically examine the material, discursive, and aesthetic scope of everything that might fall under the heading of postnatural.—
Catherine Taft,
Artforum,
1 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Desultory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desultory. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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