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superficial
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As an adjective, superficial means existing, occurring, or located on the surface. As a noun, it means a surface detail.
Meanings of superficial
10 meaningsadjective
relationalExisting, occurring, or located on the surface.
anatomyrelationalSituated or occurring on the skin or immediately beneath it.
“superficial muscles”
Appearing to be true or real only until examined more closely.
Not thorough, deep, or complete; concerned only with the obvious or apparent.
Lacking depth of character or understanding; lacking substance or significance.
UKarchitectureDenoting a quantity of a material expressed in terms of area covered rather than linear dimension or volume.
“one superficial foot”
Of, affecting, or being on or near the surface
“superficial measurements”
“the superficial area of the wall”
“a superficial wound”
Hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough
“a casual (or cursory) inspection failed to reveal the house's structural flaws”
“a passing glance”
“perfunctory courtesy”
Similar: casual, cursory, passing, perfunctory
Older and rare meanings (1)
rareTwo-dimensional; drawn on a flat surface.
noun
usually in pluralA surface detail.
“He always concentrates on the superficials and fails to see the real issue.”
Meanings from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0).