superficial
[adjective]
Synonyms:
- hasty, casual, cursory, desultory, hurried, perfunctory, sketchy, slapdash
- shallow, empty-headed, frivolous, silly, trivial
- surface, exterior, external, on the surface, slight

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Antonyms: exhaustive
Contrasted words: comprehensive, full, inclusive, deep, detailed, in-depth, thorough, critical
Related Words: bird's-eye, general, one-dimensional, skin-deep, smattery

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English Thesaurus: cut, snip, slit, slash, saw, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

su‧per‧fi‧cial /ˌsuːpəˈfɪʃəl◂ $ -pər-/ adjective
[Date: 1300-1400; Language: Late Latin; Origin: superficialis, from Latin superficies 'surface', from facies 'face']

1. NOT LOOKING/STUDYING CAREFULLY not studying or looking at something carefully and only seeing the most noticeable things
superficial examination/study etc
Even a superficial inspection revealed serious flaws.
Naturally, such visits can allow only the most superficial understanding of prison life.

2. APPEARANCE seeming to have a particular quality, although this is not true or real
superficial resemblance/similarity
Despite their superficial similarities, the two novels are, in fact, very different.
Beneath his refined manners and superficial elegance lay something treacherous.
at/on a superficial level
At a superficial level, things seem to have remained the same.

3. WOUND/DAMAGE affecting only the surface of your skin or the outside part of something, and therefore not serious:
She escaped with only superficial cuts and bruises.
superficial damage

4. PERSON someone who is superficial does not think about things that are serious or important – used to show disapproval Synonym : shallow:
All the other girls seemed silly and superficial to Darlene.

5. NOT IMPORTANT superficial changes, difficulties etc are not important and do not have a big effect Synonym : minor:
superficial changes in government policies

6. TOP LAYER existing in or relating to the top layer of something, especially soil, rock etc
—superficially adverb
—superficiality /ˌsuːpəfɪʃiˈæləti, ˌsuːpəfɪʃiˈælɪti $ -pər-/ noun [uncountable]

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

superficial
adj.
VERBS be, seem | remain
ADV. extremely, very | entirely, purely He began to feel he could cope, on a purely superficial level, at least.
increasingly | largely, more or less | fairly, quite, rather, relatively, somewhat

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

cut to divide something into two or more pieces, especially using a knife or scissors:
Do you want me to cut the cake?
He cut off the lower branches.
snip to quickly cut something, especially using scissors:
I snipped the label off.
The hairdresser snipped away at her hair.
slit to make a long narrow cut through something, especially using a knife:
He slit the envelope open with a penknife.
She slit through the plastic covering.
slash to cut something quickly and violently with a knife, making a long thin cut:
Someone had slashed the tyres on his car.
He tried to slash his wrists.
saw to cut wood, using a saw (=a tool with a row of sharp points):
Saw the wood to the correct length.
chop to cut wood, vegetables, or meat into pieces:
Bill was outside chopping up firewood with an axe.
They chopped down the old tree.
finely chopped onion
slice to cut bread, meat, or vegetables into thin pieces:
I’ll slice the cucumber.
Slice the bread thinly.
dice to cut vegetables or meat into small square pieces:
First dice the apple into cubes.
grate to cut cheese or a hard vegetable by rubbing it against a special tool:
Grate the cheese and sprinkle it over the vegetables.
peel to cut the outside part off something such as a potato or apple:
I peeled the potatoes and put them in a saucepan.
carve to cut thin pieces from a large piece of meat:
Uncle Ray carved the turkey.
mow to cut the grass in a garden, park etc:
A gardener was mowing the lawn.
trim (also clip) to cut a small amount off something, especially to make it look neater:
He was trimming his beard.
Trim the excess fat off the meat.
make cuts
The country needs to make cuts in the carbon dioxide it produces.
announce cuts
A major engineering company has announced big job cuts.
take/accept cuts (=agree to have something reduced)
Some employees were forced to take pay cuts.
tax cuts
The President announced tax cuts.
pay/wage cuts
Millions of workers face pay cuts.
job/staff cuts
There have been falling sales and job cuts at the newspaper.
spending cuts
His proposals could involve spending cuts of up to £12 billion.
price cuts
The company announced big price cuts on all its computers.
defence cuts
Further proposals for defence cuts were drawn up.
deep/severe cuts (=big reductions)
Deep cuts were made in research spending.
drastic/sharp cuts (=big and sudden reductions)
He resigned over drastic cuts in the education budget.
have a cut on something
He had a cut on his forehead.
get a cut (on something)
I fell and got a bad cut on my head.
small/slight
It’s only a small cut.
minor
Two passengers had to be treated for minor cuts.
superficial (=not deep)
I’m fine - just a few superficial cuts.
bad/nasty (=wide or deep and bleeding a lot)
The cut looked quite bad.
How did you get that nasty cut?
deep
She fell and got a deep cut on her leg.
cuts and bruises (=cuts and dark marks on the skin)
He escaped the crash with just a few cuts and bruises.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲