superficial

8 definitions • 10 examples

(of a person) never thinking about things that are serious or important:

He's fun to be with, but he's very superficial.

not complete and involving only the most obvious things:

I thought that article was written at a very superficial level.

The documentary's treatment/analysis of the issues was very superficial.

I only have a superficial (= slight) knowledge of French.

appearing to be real or important when this is not true or correct:

There are superficial similarities between the two cars, but really they're very different in terms of performance.

only on the surface of something:

superficial damage

The driver only received superficial injuries/cuts/wounds.

on the surface only; not deep:

a superficial wound

If something written or said is superficial, it does not show any real understanding of the subject and does not include many details:

Her book on the history of cars in America was extremely superficial.

A person who is described as superficial does not want to think seriously about anything, even important matters.

slight; not much:

The storm was not bad, and most property damage was superficial.