skin-deep

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.

Dawn is as skin-deep as it gets, a character with no discernible motives and a frustrating absence of realism in a film that’s desperately aiming for authenticity.

From Salon • Oct. 4, 2025

The story may be only skin-deep, but Banks and Pullman find something truthfully hopeless in these surface pleasures.”

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 18, 2024

Studies exploring skin-deep resilience have found evidence of a health toll in outwardly resilient young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds, including higher risk of inflammation, immune cell aging, metabolic disorders, and chronic disease.

From Science Daily • Jan. 4, 2024

Solidarity with the brave people of Ukraine has reminded us all what is possible when empathy is really felt, but it will be bittersweet if our solidarity is really just skin-deep.

From Washington Post • Feb. 28, 2022

Maybe it would just be melodrama, a skin-deep slash or two, her old theatricality; though perhaps theatrical people are not less risky, but more.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood