Of or pertaining to the superficies, or surface; lying on the surface; shallow; not deep; as, a superficial color; a superficial covering; superficial measure or contents; superficial tillage. [1913 Webster]
Reaching or comprehending only what is obvious or apparent; not deep or profound; shallow; -- said especially in respect to study, learning, and the like; as, a superficial scholar; superficial knowledge. [1913 Webster]
"This superficial tale
Is but a preface of her worthy praise." [1913 Webster]

"He is a presumptuous and superficial writer." [1913 Webster]

"That superficial judgment, which happens to be right without deserving to be so." [1913 Webster]

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OXFORD DICTIONARY

superficial, adj.
1 of or on the surface; lacking depth (a superficial knowledge; superficial wounds).
2 swift or cursory (a superficial examination).
3 apparent but not real (a superficial resemblance).
4 (esp. of a person) having no depth of character or knowlege; trivial; shallow.
5 Commerce (of a measure) square (cf. SUPER adj. 3).

Derivative

superficiality n. (pl. -ies). superficially adv. superficialness n.

Etymology

LL superficialis f. L (as SUPERFICIES)

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THESAURUS

superficial

3-D, airy, amateur, amateurish, ankle-deep, apparent, appearing, arid, asinine, barren, birdbrained, birdwitted, blah, blank, bloodless, catchpenny, characterless, cold, colorless, conventionalized, cortical, cosmetic, critical, cubic, cursory, dabbling, dead, depthless, dilettante, dilettantish, dimensional, dismal, draggy, drearisome, dreary, dry, dryasdust, dull, dusty, effete, elephantine, empty, epidermal, epidermic, etiolated, exomorphic, expeditious, exterior, external, extrinsic, fade, fatuous, featherbrained, festinate, feverish, few, flat, flighty, flimsy, fluffy, flying, foolish, footling, formal, formalist, formalistic, formulary, fourth-dimensional, fribble, fribbling, fringe, frivolous, frothy, furious, futile, general, half-assed, half-baked, half-cocked, hasty, heavy, ho-hum, hollow, hurried, idle, immature, immediate, impersonal, inane, inconsequential, inconsiderable, inexcitable, insignificant, insipid, instant, insubstantial, jejune, knee-deep, last-minute, leaden, legalistic, lifeless, light, little, low, low-spirited, meager, meaningless, miniature, negligible, no great shakes, nominal, not deep, nugacious, nugatory, on the spot, on the surface, open, ostensible, otiose, out, outer, outermost, outlying, outmost, outside, outstanding, outward, outward-facing, pale, pallid, passing, pedantic, pedestrian, perfunctory, peripheral, petty, picayune, picayunish, plodding, pointless, poky, ponderous, prompt, proportional, public, quick, roundabout, sciolistic, seeming, shallow, shallow-headed, shallow-minded, shallow-pated, shallow-rooted, shallow-witted, shoal, short, silly, sketchy, skin-deep, slap-bang, slapdash, slender, slight, slow, small, smattering, snap, solemn, sophomoric, space, space-time, spatial, spatiotemporal, speedy, spherical, spiritless, stereoscopic, sterile, stiff, stodgy, stuffy, stylized, surface, swift, tasteless, tedious, thin, three-dimensional, tiny, trifling, trite, trivial, two-dimensional, uncritical, unimportant, unlively, unprofound, urgent, vacuous, vain, vapid, visible, volatile, volumetric, windy, wooden

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ROGET THESAURUS

superficial

Shallowness

N shallowness, shoals, mere scratch, shallow, slight, superficial, skin deep, ankle deep, knee deep, just enough to wet one's feet, shoal, shoaly.

Exteriority

N exteriority, outside, exterior, surface, superficies, skin, superstratum, disk, disc, face, facet, extrados, excentricity, eccentricity, circumjacence, exterior, external, outer most, outward, outlying, outside, outdoor, round about, extramural, extralimitary, extramundane, superficial, skin-deep, frontal, discoid, extraregarding, excentric, eccentric, outstanding, extrinsic, ecdemic, exomorphic, externally, out, with out, over, outwards, ab extra, out of doors, extra muros, in the open air, sub Jove, sub dio, a la belle etoile, al fresco.

Misjudgment

N misjudgment, obliquity of judgment, miscalculation, miscomputation, misconception, hasty conclusion, prejudgment, prejudication, prejudice, foregone conclusion, prenotion, prevention, preconception, predilection, prepossession, preapprehension, presumption, assumption, presentiment, fixed idea, preconceived idea, id_ee fixe, mentis gratissimus error, fool's paradise, esprit de corps, party spirit, partisanship, clannishness, prestige, bias, bigotry, warp, twist, hobby, fad, quirk, crotchet, partiality, infatuation, blind side, mote in the eye, 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, odium theologicum, pedantry, hypercriticism, doctrinaire, overestimation, underestimation, ignorance, erroneous assumptions, erroneous data, mistaken assumptions, incorrect assumptions (error), misjudging, ill-judging, wrong-headed, prejudiced, jaundiced, shortsighted, purblind, partial, one-sided, superficial, narrow-minded, narrow-souled, mean-spirited, confined, illiberal, intolerant, besotted, infatuated, fanatical, entete, positive, dogmatic, conceited, opinative, opiniative, opinioned, opinionate, opinionative, opinionated, self-opinioned, wedded to an opinion, opini=atre, bigoted, crotchety, fussy, impracticable, unreasonable, stupid credulous, warped, misjudged, ex parte, nothing like leather, the wish the father to the thought, wishful thinking, unshakable conviction, my mind is made up - don't bother me with the fact.

Ignorance

N ignorance, nescience, tabula rasa, crass ignorance, ignorance crasse, unfamiliarity, unacquaintance, unconsciousness, darkness, blindness, incomprehension, inexperience, simplicity, unknown quantities, x, y, z, sealed book, terra incognita, virgin soil, unexplored ground, dark ages, smattering, sciolism, glimmering, dilettantism, bewilderment, incapacity, pedantry, charlatanry, charlatism, Philister, Philistine, ignorant, nescient, unknowing, unaware, unacquainted, unapprised, unapprized, unwitting, unweeting, unconscious, witless, weetless, a stranger to, unconversant, uninformed, uncultivated, unversed, uninstructed, untaught, uninitiated, untutored, unschooled, misguided, unenlightened, Philistine, behind the age, shallow, superficial, green, rude, empty, half-learned, illiterate, unread, uninformed, uneducated, unlearned, unlettered, unbookish, empty-headed, dizzy, wooly-headed, pedantic, in the dark, benighted, belated, blinded, blindfolded, hoodwinked, misinformed, au bout de son latin, at the end of his tether, at fault, at sea, caught tripping, unknown, unapprehended, unexplained, unascertained, uninvestigated, unexplored, unheard of, not perceived, concealed, novel, ignorantly, unawares, for anything, for aught one knows, not that one knows, Int, God knows, Heaven knows, the Lord knows, who knows, nobody knows, ignorance never settles a question, quantum animis erroris inest!, small Latin and less Greek, that unlettered small-knowing soul, there is no darkness but ignorance.

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