- 1
Desultory describes something done with no real plan, and often with little energy — you start, you hop to something else, you never quite settle. A desultory conversation jumps from topic to topic; a desultory search is a half-hearted look. The word is literary and a little old-fashioned; you meet it in books and essays more than in everyday talk. The picture behind it is a circus rider who leapt from one galloping horse to another — always moving, never staying. Though actually, it does not simply mean “lazy” or “random”. Lazy is about not trying; desultory is about moving without a steady direction.
漫無目的的、不連貫的（書面語；不是「隨機」的誇獎）
組成From Latin dēsultōrius, from dēsultor — a circus rider who jumped from one galloping horse to another — from dēsiliō (dē- “down” + saliō “jump”).
同家族的字
- desultorilythe adverb: doing something in this unplanned way
原始詞典資料4 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
desultoryadj/ˈdɛs.əl.t(ə).ɹi/
- 1
Jumping, or passing, from one thing or subject to another, without order, planning, or rational connection; lacking logical sequence.
- Near-synonyms: aimless, chaotic, disconnected, erratic, haphazard, meandering, quodlibetic, quodlibetical, random, rambling, scattered, unmethodical, unsystematic, wandering
- He wandered round, cleaning up in a desultory way.
- 2
Out of course; by the way; not connected with the subject.
- Near-synonyms: extraneous, incidental, irrelevant, nongermane, spurious, stray, unconnected, ungermane, unrelated
- I made a desultory remark while I was talking to my friend.
- 3
Disappointing in performance or progress.
- Near-synonyms: half-assed, halfhearted
- As we stood waiting for the departure time with the setting sun twinkling on the great brass dome of our 2-4-0, the sound of church bells was the only one apart from the measured tread of the guard slowly pacing towards his van, and, standing at an open window, I more than once heard the fireman's "Right away!" to his mate in acknowledgement of a desultory wave of the unfurled green flag.
- 4
obsoleteLeaping, skipping or flitting about, generally in a random or unsteady manner.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。