Categories: GeneralSynonyms

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)

apparentSeeming real or true, but not necessarily so.
For no apparent reason she laughed.
artificialArtificially formal.
That artificial humility that her husband hated.
casualAppropriate for ordinary or routine occasions.
Casual clothes.
cosmeticServing to improve the appearance of the body, especially the face.
Cosmetic surgery.
cursoryHasty and therefore not thorough or detailed.
A casual or cursory inspection failed to reveal the house s structural flaws.
desultoryOccurring randomly or occasionally.
A few people were left dancing in a desultory fashion.
empty-headedLacking seriousness; given to frivolity.
exteriorForming, situated on, or relating to the outside of something.
Exterior noise.
externalPurely 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.
fatuousSilly and pointless.
A fatuous comment.
flippantNot showing a serious or respectful attitude.
A flippant remark.
frivolousNot having any serious purpose or value.
The frivolous fun loving flappers of the twenties.
glibHaving 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.
inadequateLacking the requisite qualities or resources to meet a task.
A sad solitary inadequate man.
inaneDevoid of intelligence.
Don t badger people with inane questions.
minimalCharacterized by the repetition and gradual alteration of short phrases.
A minimal charge for the service.
offhandWith little or no preparation or forethought.
She treated most men with offhand contempt.
on the surfaceOn the surface.
ostensibleRepresented or appearing as such; pretended.
His ostensible purpose was charity his real goal popularity.
outerFurther from the centre or inside.
Outer reality.
outermostSituated at the farthest possible point from a center.
The outermost layer of the earth.
outsideLeading to or from the outside.
An outside chance.
outwardRelating to the external appearance of something rather than its true nature.
An outward journey.
passingGoing past.
She detested him more with every passing second.
perfunctory(of an action) carried out without real interest, feeling, or effort.
Perfunctory courtesy.
peripheralRelating to or situated on the edge or periphery of something.
Peripheral suburbs.
seemingAppearing as such but not necessarily so.
An angry seeming man.
shallowVarying only slightly from a specified or understood line or direction, especially the horizontal.
Being fairly shallow the water was warm.
sillyHelpless; 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-deepPenetrating no deeper than the skin.
slapdashDone too hurriedly and carelessly.
Slapdash work.
slightSmall in degree; inconsiderable.
There s a slight chance it will work.
slipshodMarked by great carelessness.
Slipshod spelling.
speciousBased on pretense; deceptively pleasing.
A specious argument.
surfaceRelating to or found on the surface of something.
Surface mail.
thoughtlessShowing lack of careful thought.
To think a few minutes of thoughtless pleasure could end in this.
tokenInsignificantly small a matter of form only tokenish is informal.
A tokenish gesture.
trivialConcerned with trivialities.
A trivial young woman.
unconsideredWithout 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)

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

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