superficial
Anything superficial has to do with the surface of something. If you're judging a book by its cover, you're being superficial. People who worry too much about their clothes and hair may also be considered superficial.
The word superficial has to do with appearances and the surface. If a car is in an accident, but it only has a few scratches, you could say it has superficial damage, because the important parts are OK. If you just glance at a movie for a second, your opinion will be more superficial than the opinion of someone who watched the whole film closely. Superficial can have a negative flavor; calling someone superficial is saying that they are shallow and care too little about meaningful things.
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of, affecting, or being on or near the surface“superficial measurements”“the superficial area of the wall”“a superficial wound”
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concerned with or comprehending only what is apparent or obvious; 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”synonyms:carelessmarked by lack of attention or consideration or forethought or thoroughness; not carefuloutwardrelating to physical reality rather than with thoughts or the minddilettante, dilettanteish, dilettantish, sciolisticshowing frivolous or superficial interest; amateurishfacilearrived at without due care or effort; lacking depthglibmarked by lack of intellectual depthshallowlacking depth of intellect or knowledge; concerned only with what is obviousskin-deeppenetrating no deeper than the skin: "her beauty is only skin-deep"frivolousnot serious in content or attitude or behaviorantonyms:profoundshowing intellectual penetration or emotional depthintensepossessing or displaying a distinctive feature to a heightened degreedeepmarked by depth of thinkingthoughtfulhaving intellectual depthscholarlycharacteristic of scholars or scholarship
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of little substance or significance
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Vocabulary lists containing superficial
Looking to build your vocabulary? Then practice this list of 100 "top words" — the kind that used to be tested on the SAT before 2016. If you're a high school student prepping for the SAT, check out Vocabulary.com's Roadmap to the SAT, which focuses on the vocabulary you'll need to ace today's SAT test.
Whether you're preparing for a standardized test, hoping to improve your comprehension of reading assignments, or simply looking to increase your word knowledge, our lists of essential, high-frequency words will put you on the path to vocabulary success. Here are links to our lists in this collection: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4
On the SAT, all of the Reading Test questions are multiple choice and are based on reading passages that may be taken from literature, science, the social sciences, or a U.S. founding document (or a text inspired by such a document). Many of the reading comprehension questions meant to assess a student’s understanding of those passages will require students to choose words that best describe the writer’s tone or point of view, words like the 25 words you see on this list. Learn them here so when you see them in an SAT answer choice, you’ll know what they mean! Following our Roadmap to the SAT? Head back to see what else you should be learning this week.