desultory
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Then again, it’s all too easy to be distracted from the desultory happenings on stage.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 14, 2026
The playfulness of Wohl’s style, while at times informal to the point of desultory, treats the past as an autonomous reality.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 8, 2025
Biden made a few desultory campaign speeches here and there.
From Salon • Aug. 7, 2024
The lobby bar at the town’s only hotel—usually so desultory on non–parents’ weekend weekends that it closed around 8—was jammed with visitors from surrounding states.
From Slate • Apr. 8, 2024
She knew she did not bore him, and she buffed or painted her fingernails studiously while he dozed or brooded and the desultory warm afternoon breeze vibrated delicately on the surface of the beach.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
Vocabulary lists containing desultory
Behave Yourself! Vocabulary for Good, Bad, and Indifferent Conduct
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And Then There Were None
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"Marita's Bargain," Vocabulary from the essay
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