SUPERFICIAL: Synonyms and Related Words. What is Another Word for SUPERFICIAL?

Need another word that means the same as “superficial”? Find 42 synonyms and 30 related words for “superficial” in this overview.

The synonyms of “Superficial” are: casual, cursory, passing, perfunctory, trivial, surface, exterior, external, outer, outside, outermost, peripheral, slight, apparent, specious, seeming, outward, ostensible, cosmetic, sketchy, desultory, unconsidered, token, slapdash, slipshod, offhand, inadequate, imperfect, shallow, on the surface, skin-deep, minimal, artificial, facile, glib, flippant, thoughtless, empty-headed, frivolous, silly, inane, fatuous

Superficial as an Adjective

Definitions of "Superficial" as an adjective

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “superficial” as an adjective can have the following definitions:

• Appearing to be true or real only until examined more closely.
• Occurring on or near the surface of the skin.
• Existing or occurring at or on the surface.
• Of, affecting, or being on or near the surface.
• Hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough.
• Not thorough, deep, or complete; cursory.
• Of little substance or significance.
• Denoting a quantity of a material expressed in terms of area covered rather than linear dimension or volume.
• Situated or occurring on the skin or immediately beneath it.
• Lacking depth of character or understanding.
• Concerned with or comprehending only what is apparent or obvious; not deep or penetrating emotionally or intellectually.

Synonyms of "Superficial" as an adjective (42 Words)

apparent	Seeming real or true, but not necessarily so. For no apparent reason she laughed.
artificial	Artificially formal. That artificial humility that her husband hated.
casual	Appropriate for ordinary or routine occasions. Casual clothes.
cosmetic	Serving to improve the appearance of the body, especially the face. Cosmetic surgery.
cursory	Hasty and therefore not thorough or detailed. A casual or cursory inspection failed to reveal the house s structural flaws.
desultory	Occurring randomly or occasionally. A few people were left dancing in a desultory fashion.
empty-headed	Lacking seriousness; given to frivolity.
exterior	Forming, situated on, or relating to the outside of something. Exterior noise.
external	Purely outward or superficial- A.R.Gurney,Jr. The external walls.
facile	(of a person) having a superficial or simplistic knowledge or approach. A man of facile and shallow intellect.
fatuous	Silly and pointless. A fatuous comment.
flippant	Not showing a serious or respectful attitude. A flippant remark.
frivolous	Not having any serious purpose or value. The frivolous fun loving flappers of the twenties.
glib	Having only superficial plausibility. A glib response to a complex question.
imperfect	(of a gift, title, etc.) transferred without all the necessary conditions or requirements being met. An imperfect grasp of English.
inadequate	Lacking the requisite qualities or resources to meet a task. A sad solitary inadequate man.
inane	Devoid of intelligence. Don t badger people with inane questions.
minimal	Characterized by the repetition and gradual alteration of short phrases. A minimal charge for the service.
offhand	With little or no preparation or forethought. She treated most men with offhand contempt.
on the surface	On the surface.
ostensible	Represented or appearing as such; pretended. His ostensible purpose was charity his real goal popularity.
outer	Further from the centre or inside. Outer reality.
outermost	Situated at the farthest possible point from a center. The outermost layer of the earth.
outside	Leading to or from the outside. An outside chance.
outward	Relating to the external appearance of something rather than its true nature. An outward journey.
passing	Going past. She detested him more with every passing second.
perfunctory	(of an action) carried out without real interest, feeling, or effort. Perfunctory courtesy.
peripheral	Relating to or situated on the edge or periphery of something. Peripheral suburbs.
seeming	Appearing as such but not necessarily so. An angry seeming man.
shallow	Varying only slightly from a specified or understood line or direction, especially the horizontal. Being fairly shallow the water was warm.
silly	Helpless; defenceless (typically used of a woman, child, or animal). His mother worried herself silly over him.
sketchy	(of a picture) resembling a sketch; consisting of outline without much detail. A sketchy pencil drawing by Toulouse Lautrec.
skin-deep	Penetrating no deeper than the skin.
slapdash	Done too hurriedly and carelessly. Slapdash work.
slight	Small in degree; inconsiderable. There s a slight chance it will work.
slipshod	Marked by great carelessness. Slipshod spelling.
specious	Based on pretense; deceptively pleasing. A specious argument.
surface	Relating to or found on the surface of something. Surface mail.
thoughtless	Showing lack of careful thought. To think a few minutes of thoughtless pleasure could end in this.
token	Insignificantly small a matter of form only tokenish is informal. A tokenish gesture.
trivial	Concerned with trivialities. A trivial young woman.
unconsidered	Without proper consideration or reflection. Unconsidered words.

Usage Examples of "Superficial" as an adjective

• Superficial knowledge.
• Perhaps I was a superficial person.
• A superficial mind.
• His thinking was superficial and fuzzy.
• Superficial similarities.
• Only superficial differences.
• The superficial report didn't give the true picture.
• Superficial burns.
• A few superficial editorial changes.
• He had only the most superficial knowledge of foreign countries.
• In his paper, he showed a very superficial understanding of psychoanalytic theory.
• The building suffered only superficial damage.
• The superficial muscle groups.
• Superficial facial injuries.
• The resemblance between the breeds is superficial.

Associations of "Superficial" (30 Words)

aquifer	A body of permeable rock which can contain or transmit groundwater.
auricular	Relating to the ear or hearing. The Catholic doctrine of the necessity of private auricular confession.
bark	Tan a skin with bark tannins. He began barking out his orders.
bluster	Show off. You threaten and bluster but won t carry it through.
bombast	Pompous or pretentious talk or writing. The bombast of gung ho militarism.
dabbler	Any of numerous shallow-water ducks that feed by upending and dabbling.
dilettante	An amateur who engages in an activity without serious intentions and who pretends to have knowledge. A wealthy literary dilettante.
epidermis	The outer layer of the skin covering the exterior body surface of vertebrates.
exaggeration	Extravagant exaggeration. He was prone to exaggeration.
external	Coming or derived from a source outside the subject affected. For external application only.
externalize	Regard as objective. Such neuroses are externalized as interpersonal conflicts.
fustian	Thick, hard-wearing twilled cloth with a short nap, usually dyed in dark colours. A smokescreen of fustian and fantasy.
grandiloquent	Lofty in style. A grandiloquent and boastful manner.
guise	An external form, appearance, or manner of presentation, typically concealing the true nature of something. He visited in the guise of an inspector.
integument	A tough outer protective layer, especially that of an animal or plant. This chemical compound is found in the integument of the seed.
meretricious	Based on pretense; deceptively pleasing. Meretricious souvenirs for the tourist trade.
ostensible	Appearing as such but not necessarily so. His ostensible purpose was charity his real goal popularity.
outer	A shot that strikes the outer. The outer layer of the skin.
outward	Outwards. The outward voyage.
outwardly	In outward appearance. Outwardly the figure is smooth.
pompous	Puffed up with vanity. A pompous speech.
pretentious	(of a display) tawdry or vulgar. The pretentious jargon of wine experts.
putative	Generally considered or reputed to be. The foundling s putative father.
rant	A spell of ranting a tirade. She was still ranting on about the unfairness of it all.
rind	The hard outer edge of cheese or bacon. When the meat ran out they had to rind trees and chew the inner bark for nourishment.
seeming	Appearing as such but not necessarily so. An angry seeming man.
semblance	Resemblance similarity. She tried to force her thoughts back into some semblance of order.
shallow	Become shallow. The lake shallowed over time.
smatter	To talk foolishly. She smatters Russian.
surface	Put a coat on cover the surface of furnish with a surface. The cloth had a pattern of red dots on a white surface.