Superficial

Definition: Superficial

Superficial

Adjective

1. Being or affecting or concerned with a surface; not deep or penetrating emotionally or intellectually; "superficial similarities"; "a superficial mind"; "his thinking was superficial and fuzzy"; "superficial knowledge"; "the superficial report didn't give the true picture"; "only superficial differences".

2. Relating to a surface; "superficial measurements"; "the superficial area of the wall".

3. Of little substance or significance; "a few superficial editorial changes"; "only trivial objections".

4. Involving a surface only; "her beauty is only skin-deep"; "superficial bruising"; "a surface wound".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "superficial" was first used: 1392. (references)

Etymology: Superficial \Su`per*fi"cial\, adjective. [Latin expression superficialis: compare to the French expression superficiel. See Superficies.]. (Websters 1913)

Mining

Science

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Superficial

Breadth, Thickness

Noun: breadth, width, latitude, amplitude; diameter, bore, caliber, radius; superficial extent; (space).

Exteriority

Superficial, skin-deep; frontal, discoid.

Ignorance

Shallow, superficial, green, rude, empty, half-learned, illiterate; unread, uninformed, uneducated, unlearned, unlettered, unbookish; empty-headed,dizzy, wooly-headed; pedantic;

Misjudgment

Adjective: misjudging; Verb: ill-judging, wrong-headed; prejudiced; Verb: jaundiced; shortsighted, purblind; partial, one-sided, superficial.

One-sided views, one-track mind, partial views, narrow views, confined views, superficial views, one-sided ideas, partial ideas, narrow ideas, confined ideas, superficial ideas, one-sided conceptions, partial conceptions, narrow conceptions, confined conceptions, superficial conceptions, one-sided notions, partial notions, narrow notions, confined notions, superficial notions; narrow mind; bigotry; (obstinacy); odium theologicum; pedantry; hypercriticism.

Shallowness

Adjective: shallow, slight, superficial; skin deep, ankle deep, knee deep; just enough to wet one's feet; shoal, shoaly.

Space

Noun: space, extension, extent, superficial extent, expanse, stretch, hyperspace; room, scope, range, field, way, expansion, compass, sweep, swing, spread.

Crosswords: Superficial

Portuguese (aboveground, above-ground, amateurish, flashy, flimsy, flippant, frothy, lip-deep, perfunctory, shallow, sketchy, skin-deep, superficial, trivial), Romanian (cursory, external, facile, flimsy, flippant, gossamer, passing, perfunctory, shallow, skin deep, slight, sublime, superficial, superficially, thin, tinsel, trivial, yeasty), Spanish (cursory, facile, hurried, lip-deep, perfunctory, shallow, shallow-minded, skin deep, superficial, trivial).

Don't be so superficial (The Faculty; writing credit: David Wechter; Bruce Kimmel)

Way down deep he's very superficial. (Julia; writing credit: Lillian Hellman; Alvin Sargent)

Doing a thing wrong for a long period of time gives it the superficial appearance of being right. (references; author: unknown)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• Abdomen and Superficial Structures (Diagnostic Medical Sonography (2nd Ed.)) (reference)

• Are You A Superficial Man or Are You Dating One?! (reference)

• BCG in superficial bladder cancer : proceedings of an EORTC Genitourinary Group sponsored meeting held at Erenstein Castle Kerkrade, the Netherlands, on September 7-8, 1988, organized by the Department of Urology, University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands (reference)

• Manual of Chemical Peels: Superficial and Medium Depth (reference)

• Superficial (reference)

  (more book examples)

Music

• Superficial to the Core (Limited Edition [IMPORT] (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

This is advanced malignant melanoma. At the left, one can see a plaque of early, radial growth phase superficial spreading melanoma. To the right, and contiguous with the plaque, is a pink (amelanotic) nodule of deeply invasive vertical growth phase melanoma. Melanomas diagnosed at this stage have a poor prognosis; many of these patients develop metastatic disease and die from their cancer. In the majority of instances, the plaque stage of melanoma is present for a sufficient period of time to permit its diagnosis and removal before it progresses to a more advanced (and more difficult to treat) stage. Credit: Unknown photographer/artist.

Superficial spreading melanoma arising from a dysplastic nevus. The 4-by-8-mm, pink-tan lesion with irregular borders at the upper left (arrow) is a dysplastic nevus. Arising from it is an invasive malignant melanoma, with its characteristic blue-black color, notched border, and distorted surface. The gray area at the lower left represents tumor regression. Credit: Unknown photographer/artist.

The chiropodist is a medical auxiliary qualified to treat superficial foot complaints ... / WHO p. Credit: National Library of Medicine; photo by E. Mandelmann..

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

He was superficial, hasty, easily angered.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Health

All gross lesions, even with superficial invasion, are stage IB cancers. (references)

Routine excision of overlying skin is unnecessary except for very superficial lesions. (references)

There is no evidence of maturation from the superficial to deep component of the lesion. (references)

Civil Liberties

South Africa

In late September, the offices of the Muslim Judicial Council in Cape Town were firebombed, causing superficial damage to the building's facade. (references)

Economic History

Czech Republic

Under the cover of superficial legality, the Communist Party seized power in February 1948. (references)

Human Rights

Macedonia

Police questioning of the civilians was only superficial; they were released without charges. (references)

Trade

Costa Rica

Private commercial banks are relatively new to Costa Rica, as only state-owned banks could offer checking and passbook savings accounts to the public until the banking law was changed in 1995. Bank regulation was superficial in the absence of a private banking sector, leaving the state-owned banks to regulate themselves. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Expressions using "superficial": become superficial ♦ superficial cervical lymph glands ♦ superficial cervical lymph nodes ♦ superficial density ♦ superficial deposit ♦ superficial epigastric vein ♦ superficial extent ♦ superficial geology ♦ superficial knowledge ♦ superficial measure ♦ superficial middle cerebral vein ♦ superficial moraine ♦ superficial notions ♦ superficial temporal vein ♦ superficial wound. Additional references.

Ending with "superficial": non-superficial.

Albanian

i sipërfaqshëm (external, futile, ostensible, perfunctory, terraneous), i sipërfaqësor (skin deep, surface), i përciptë (cursory, perfunctory, shallow), i cekët (facile, half-baked, shallow, shoal). (various references)

Arabic 

‏سطحي (cursory, exterior, external, facile, frothy, perfunctory, peripheral, primary, shallow-minded, sketchy, skin deep, slight, surface, unexperienced, unintelligent), ‏ظاهري (apparent, cursory, ostensible, outward, plausible). (various references)

Bulgarian 

квадратен (foursquare, quadrate, quadratic, super), несериозен (easy, fly-by-night, futile, half-baked, light, pococurante), алувиален (alluvial), лекомислен (airy, airy fairy, dizzy, empty headed, fast, featherbrained, flip, flippant, foolish, frivolous, giddy, harebrained, harum scarum, idle, inconstant, light, light minded, light-headed, scatter-brained, trivial, unreflecting, unthinking), бегъл (cursory, fugitive, hurried, sketchy, surface), празен (airy, airy fairy, bare, barren, blank, empty, hollow, idle, inane, light, loose, piffling, pithless, purposeless, sounding, uncharged, unsubstantial, untenanted, vacant, vacuous, vain, void, yeasty), привиден (colorable, colourable, factitious, fictitious, formal, left handed, ostensible, ostentatious, outward, phantom, put on, seeming, token), повърхностен (airy, blanket, borax, cheap, cursory, dilettante, external, facile, flimsy, frothy, glib, lip-deep, outward, perfunctory, shallow, sketchy, skin deep, slick, subaerial, sublime, surface, terrain, trumpery, yeasty), плитък (fleet, shallow, shoal, transparent). (various references)

Chinese 

鄙陋 (shallow), 表面 (surface, surfaces), 粗淺 (shallow), 漂浮 (to float), 不痛不�' (perfunctory, scratching the surface). (various references)

Czech

povrchový (external), povrchní (airy, casual, cheap, desultory, dollish, facile, frivolous, lip-deep, perfunctory, scrappy, shallow, sketchy, skin deep). (various references)

Danish

lav (low, shallow). (various references)

Dutch

oppervlakkig (shallow, shallowly), ondiep (shallow). (various references)

Esperanto

supraĵa, malprofunda (shallow). (various references)

Farsi 

سطحی (Planar, Shallow, Sketchy, Surface), سرسری (Cursory, Perfunctory), صوری (Nominal, Ostensible, Simulate), ظاهری (Exterior, Outward, Outwards, Seeming, Surface). (various references)

Finnish

pintapuolinen (shallow), pinnallinen (shallow, surface). (various references)

French

superficiel (surface). (various references)

Frisian

ûndjip (shallow). (various references)

German

oberflächlich (cursorily, facile, frivolous, futile, light minded, light-headed, lukewarm, perfunctorily, shallow, sketchily, sketchy, trifling, trivial). (various references)

Greek 

επιπόλαιοσ (cursory, flighty, flippant, frivolous, perfunctory, sciolistic, shallow, skin deep, thoughtless). (various references)

Hebrew 

מרפרף (lambent, sketchy), שטחי (cursory, perfunctory, shallow, sketchy, skin deep, surface), פשט� י (plain, shallow, simple). (various references)

Hungarian

felszínes (lip-deep, shallow, skin deep), felületi (external, outward, peripheral, surface), felületes (cursory, desultory, flighty, frivolous, futile, negligent, perfunctory, scratchy, sketchy, skin deep, slipshod, sloppy, smattering, sophomoric). (various references)

Icelandic

grunnur (shallow). (various references)

Indonesian

datar (plain), dangkal (banal, shallow), cetek (shallow). (various references)

Italian

superficiale (airy, cosmetic, external, facile, perfunctory, shallow, sketchily, skin deep), basso (base, bass, bottom, ignoble, low, low down, lower, Nether, shallow, short, small). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

軽薄 (frivolous), 表在 , 表層性 , 皮相 , �"�飲み込み , �"�半可 (half-hearted), 掻い�'�で , 浅い (shallow), 上滑べり , 上滑り (careless, inattentive). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

なまのみ�"み, なまは�"か (half-hearted), ひそう (cortex, pathetic, sad, touching, tragic), ひょうそうせい, ひょうざい, うわすべり (careless, inattentive), かいなで, あさい (shallow), けいはく (frivolous, Yours sincerely). (various references)

Korean 

표면 (surface, surfaces). (various references)

Manx

eaghtyragh (pelagic, shallow, skindeep, superior, surface feeding, top-level). (various references)

Pig Latin

uperficialsay

Polish

powierzchniowy. (various references)

Portuguese

superficial (aboveground, above-ground, amateurish, flashy, flimsy, flippant, frothy, lip-deep, perfunctory, shallow, sketchy, skin-deep, trivial), não profundo, de superfície, com pouca substância, baixo (base, bass, bass voice, basso, caitiff, common, dumpy, dwarfish, hereinafter, hollow, ignoble, lily-livered, low, low-down, lowered, mean, mediocre, menial, nether, obsequious, pygmean, raffish, rascally, reptile, scummy, scurrilous, scurvy, servile, shallow, short, slavish, small, sordid, vulgar, vulgarian), apressado (abrupt, clinking, cursory, hasty, hurried, hurry, quick, spanking, sudden). (various references)

Romanian

superficial (cursory, external, facile, flimsy, flippant, gossamer, passing, perfunctory, shallow, skin deep, slight, sublime, superficially, thin, tinsel, trivial, yeasty), uşor (downhill, easily, easy, facile, fluffy, gauzy, gentle, glib, gossamer, jamb, lax, light, light of foot, lightly, lightsome, rate, readily, ready, running, simple, slight, small, soft, swimmingly, thin, with a wet finger), facil (easy, facile, shallow). (various references)

Russian 

поверхностный (cursory, lip-deep, perfunctory, perfunctory inspection, sketchy, skin deep, skin-deep, sophomoric, surface). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

površan (cursory, flighty, frothy, gossamery, light minded, perfunctory, shallow, skin deep, supervacaneous). (various references)

Spanish

superficial (cursory, facile, hurried, lip-deep, perfunctory, shallow, shallow-minded, skin deep, trivial), somero (shallow, sketchily). (various references)

Swedish

ytlig (airy, flashy, flimsy, idleheaded, shallow, skin deep, superfical, yeasty). (various references)

Tagalog

mabábaw (shallow). (various references)

Thai

ผิวเผิน (surface), ตื้นๆ (skin-deep), คร่าวๆ (rough, sketchy, some). (various references)

Turkish

yarımyamalak (glib, sloppy), yüzeysel (cosmetic, shallow, skin deep, surface, tangential), iki boyutlu, dış (ecto-, exo-, exterior, external, extrinsic, foreign, offshore, out, outer, outside, outward, salient, without), ayrıntısız, üstünkörü (casual, casually, cursory, glib, loose, perfunctory, scratchy, shallow, sketchy, skin deep, slight, trifling). (various references)

Turkmen 

яьzleя (petty, small). (various references)

Ukrainian

гаданий (apparent, assumptive, conjectural, hypothetic, hypothetical, presumed, presumptive, putative, quasi, reputed, suppositional, supposititious), несерйозний (casual, lightweight, windy), поверховий (cursory, facile, frivolous, lip-deep, overly, perfunctory, shallow, sketchy, skin deep). (various references)

Vietnamese 

thiển cận vuông, hời hợt (airy, perfunctory, shallow), ở bề mặt nông cạn. (various references)

Welsh

arwynebol. (various references)

brevis, superficialis. (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "superficial": superficialities, superficiality, superficially. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Superficial" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: soperficial, supeficial, superfical, superfichial, superficie, superficil, superfiscial, superfishal, superfisial, superfucial. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-2 letters: clarifies, pacifiers, peculiars, surficial.

-3 letters: auricles, calipers, failures, flareups, fluerics, fusilier, lucifers, pacifier, pacifies, peculiar, piracies, purifies, replicas, specular, spiculae, spicular, spiracle, spirulae, surplice.

-4 letters: apercus, apiculi, auricle, auspice, caliper, capfuls, capsule, careful, carfuls, carpels, claries, clasper, earfuls, eclairs, episcia, failure, fairies, farcies, fecials, felspar, ferulas, fiacres, flareup, flueric, laicise, lucifer, parcels, peculia.

+2 letters: superficially.

+3 letters: superficiality.

+5 letters: superficialities.