- Today's Word
Cursory
KUR-suh-ree
Definition
- (adjective) Done quickly and without enough attention to detail; superficial.
Example
He gave the contract only a cursory glance before signing, which later proved to be a costly mistake.
Fun Fact
“Cursory” comes from the Latin cursor, meaning “runner,” which reflects its association with speed. While efficiency is valuable, a cursory approach can sometimes lead to errors—whether it’s skimming an important email, rushing through an exam, or speed-reading a recipe and realizing too late that you needed baking soda instead of baking powder!
(noun) The reappearance of a characteristic or trait from a distant ancestor that has been absent for several generations; a reversion to an earlier type
The scientist described the child’s unusually dense bone structure as a possible atavism, a trait that hadn’t appeared in the family line for generations.
Atavism comes from the Latin atavus, meaning “ancestor” or “great-great-great-grandfather” — from ata (“father”) + avus (“grandfather”). It entered English in the 19th century as a biological and anthropological term, used to describe the sudden reemergence of dormant ancestral traits in an organism after multiple generations of absence.