desultory

英 ['des(?)lt(?)r?; -z-] 美['d?s?lt?ri]

GRE暢通詞匯

副詞:?desultorily;

desultory 隨意的

de-, 向下，離開(kāi)。-sult, 跳，詞源同salmon, insult. 原指馬戲團(tuán)的馴馬師玩把戲從一匹馬跳到另一匹馬，引申詞義隨意的。

desultory: desultory: [16] Latin dēsultor designated a circus trick-rider who jumped from the back of one horse to another while they were galloping along (it was a derivative of dēsilīre, a compound verb formed from dē- ‘down’ and salīre ‘jump’, source of or related to English assail, assault, insult, salacious, salient, and sally). From it was derived an adjective dēsultōrius ‘jumping from one thing to another like a dēsultor’, hence ‘superficial’, and eventually ‘unmethodical, irregular’, the sense which survives in English.
=> assail, assault, insult, salacious, salient
desultory (adj.): 1580s, "skipping about," from Latin desultorius "hasty, casual, superficial," adjective form of desultor (n.) "a rider in the circus who jumps from one horse to another while they are in gallop," from desul-, stem of desilire "jump down," from de- "down" (see de-) + salire "to jump, leap" (see salient (adj.)). Sense of "irregular, without aim or method" is c. 1740. Related: Desultorily; desultoriness.

2. Do not let the discussion fragment into a desultory conversation with no clear direction.: 不要讓討論變得支離破碎,成為沒(méi)有明確方向的漫談.

3. Carrie followed up this desultory conversation with occasional interruptions from the Vances.: 嘉莉繼續(xù)這樣隨便地談著,萬(wàn)斯夫婦偶爾也插上幾句.

4. The constables made a desultory attempt to keep them away from the barn.: 警察漫不經(jīng)心地?cái)r著不讓他們靠近谷倉(cāng)。

5. Judith now entered into a desultory discourse with Deerslayer.: 尤蒂絲開(kāi)始和打鹿將東拉西扯地閑聊起來(lái).