Crossword clues for desultory
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Desultory \Des"ul*to*ry\, a. [L. desultorius, fr. desultor a leaper, fr. desilire, desultum, to leap down; de + salire to leap. See Saltation.]
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Leaping or skipping about. [Obs.]
I shot at it [a bird], but it was so desultory that I missed my aim.
--Gilbert White. -
Jumping, or passing, from one thing or subject to another, without order or rational connection; without logical sequence; disconnected; immethodical; aimless; as, desultory minds.
--Atterbury.He [Goldsmith] knew nothing accurately; his reading had been desultory.
--Macaulay. -
Out of course; by the way; as a digression; not connected with the subject; as, a desultory remark.
Syn: Rambling; roving; immethodical; discursive; inconstant; unsettled; cursory; slight; hasty; loose.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1580s, "skipping about," from Latin desultorius "hasty, casual, superficial," adjective form of desultor (n.) "a rider in the circus who jumps from one horse to another while they are in gallop," from desul-, stem of desilire "jump down," from de- "down" (see de-) + salire "to jump, leap" (see salient (adj.)). Sense of "irregular, without aim or method" is c.1740. Related: Desultorily; desultoriness.
Wiktionary
a. 1 jumping, or passing, from one thing or subject to another, without order or rational connection; without logical sequence. 2 Out of course; by the way; as a digression; not connected with the subject. 3 disappointing in performance or progress. 4 (context obsolete English) leaping, skipping or flitting about, generally in a random or unsteady manner.
WordNet
adj. marked by lack of definite plan or regularity or purpose; jumping from one thing to another; "desultory thoughts"; "the desultory conversation characteristic of cocktail parties"
Wikipedia
Desultory was part of the first wave of Swedish death metal bands, alongside Entombed, Dismember, and others. Into Eternity, their Metal Blade debut following a lesser-known EP release, is standard for the genre, energetic and forceful, straddling the line between the more brutal American death style and the melodic Gothenburg variety.
Though not groundbreaking, it was considered a fine album by fans. By most accounts, their followup, Bitterness, is more of the same, but 1996's Swallow the Snake takes quite a different approach, dropping the death vocals (and, for the most part, death metal itself), for a more heavy rock sound likened by some to Soundgarden. Having been dropped by Metal Blade, they disappeared, but the three members from the Snake album recruited a new fourth member and, continuing the progression from that last album, continued on as the rock act Zebulon, releasing one EP and 2 LPs.
Usage examples of "desultory".
The Champs Elysees were full of the late afternoon sunlight, and we sauntered slowly, criticising the occupants of the various carriages rolling up to the great arch of Napoleon, and arguing in a broken, desultory way on our usual subject of talk--literature.
This desultory campaigning in Normandy was little more than a postscriptum, an afterthought, a means of filling in the interim between what was past and what was to come, and as yet unrevealed.
Covenry worked the hoe in desultory fashion, frowning at the tiny sprouts of threadleaf and hensfoot poking up in the rows of cabbages and beets.
Above the treetopsthe sky was split with veinlike flashes of lightning but the lightning must havebeen miles away for thunder came belatedly, a low desultory muttering.
Above the treetops the sky was split with veinlike flashes of lightning but the lightning must have been miles away for thunder came belatedly, a low desultory muttering.
Numerous desultory attacks culminated in a fierce skirmish at Quaggafontein on August 31st, in which the column had sixty casualties.
Sally made a few desultory attempts at cataloguing and filing, but these never lasted more than an hour or two and then she was back at the cavern.
Now, counterbattery fire from the walls had become desultory, the dwindling number of losses from gun crews mostly being the result of long-range sniping with big bore wall-mounted matchlock calivers, but there seemed a dearth of notable marksmen within the city, for hits were rare, though the inch-or-more-in-diameter balls were almost certain to be the death of anyone so unfortunate as to be caught in the path of one.
Some desultory fighting ensued which achieved no end, and was chiefly remarkable for the excellent behaviour of the Colonials, who showed that they were the equals of the Regulars in gallantry and their superiors in the tactics which such a country requires.
The gunmen were still firing--he could hear the crack of their rifles and the thud of bullets hitting the log--but their attack was more desultory now.
The loyalists, encouraged by the progress of Prevost, and the notorious inefficiency of the Whigs, were now gathering in formidable bodies, in various quarters, operating in desultory bands, or crowding to swell the columns of the British army.
Men ran their hands over her breasts, teasing at her nipples with desultory interest.
Advancing along the road, in the immediate track of one of these desultory and inexplicable whirlwinds, was a man on horseback.
In the desultory talk which went on during the supper, I found in my travelling companions decorum, propriety, wit, and the manners of persons accustomed to good society.
At Casco Bay, they met a large body of Indians, whom they routed after a desultory fight of six hours.