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You can describe something as abstruse if you find it highly complicated and difficult to understand.
Something that happens unexpectedly and by chance that is not inherent or natural to a given item or situation is adventitious, such as a root appearing in an unusual place on a plant.
Something that is arcane is mysterious and secret, known and understood by only a few people.
A bagatelle is something that is not important or of very little value or significance.
A cardinal rule or quality is considered to be the most important or basic in a set of rules or qualities.
Chaff is the husks of grain separated from the edible plant; it can also be useless matter in general that is cast aside.
The crux of a problem or argument is the most important or difficult part of it that affects everything else.
A dilettante is someone who frequently pursues an interest in a subject; nevertheless, they never spend the time and effort to study it thoroughly enough to master it.
Someone or something that is enigmatic is mysterious and difficult to understand.
Something that is epochal is highly significant or important; this adjective often refers to the bringing about or marking of the beginning of a new era.
Someone who is erudite is steeped in knowledge because they have read and studied extensively.
Something esoteric is known about or understood by very few people.
A facade is a false outward appearance or way of behaving that hides what someone or something is really like.
If you criticize someone’s arguments as being facile, you consider their ideas simplistic and not well thought through.
A figurehead in an organization is the apparent authority or head in name only—the real power lies somewhere else.
Something frivolous is not worth taking seriously or considering because it is silly or childish.
If something is gilded, it has been deceptively given a more attractive appearance than it normally possesses; a very thin layer of gold often covers something gilded.
The gravity of a situation or event is its seriousness or importance.
If you describe someone’s behavior as inane, you think it is completely stupid or without much meaning.
Inconsequential matters are unimportant or are of little to no significance.
Something that is integral to something else is an essential or necessary part of it.
The minutiae of something, such as your job or life, are the very small and often unimportant details associated with it.
A momentous occurrence is very important, significant, or vital in some way.
A monumental event is very great, impressive, or extremely important in some way.
Numinous objects or places seem holy, spiritual, and possess a mysterious power, which make you feel that a spirit or god may be present.
Something that is of paramount importance or significance is chief or supreme in those things.
A patent situation is one that is wide open and unconcealed; it is both evident and obvious.
A patina is a smooth, shiny film or surface that gradually develops on things—such as wood, leather, and metal utensils—that have seen a lot of use.
If you describe something as pedestrian, you think that it is ordinary and not interesting.
Something that is pertinent is directly related or relevant to the subject under consideration.
Anything picayune is unimportant, insignificant, or minor.
Something that is pivotal is more important than anything else in a situation or a system; consequently, it is the key to its success.
When someone exhibits profundity, they display great intellectual depth and understanding; profundity can also be the depth or complexity of something.
A puerile person is childish, immature, and foolish.
Recondite areas of knowledge are those that are very difficult to understand and/or are not known by many people.
A semblance is an outward appearance of what is wanted or expected but is not exactly as hoped for.
Something that is specious seems to be good, sound, or correct but is actually wrong or fake.
A subtle point is so clever or small that it is hard to notice or understand; it can also be very wise or deep in meaning.
A tangential point in an argument merely touches upon something that is not really relevant to the conversation at hand; rather, it is a minor or unimportant point.
Something that is transcendent not only surpasses all others in quality, achievement, or significance, but exceeds normal limits or boundaries.
If you refer to something as a trifle, you mean that it is of little or no importance or value.
Something trivial is of little value or is not important.
A veneer is a thin layer, such as a thin sheet of expensive wood over a cheaper type of wood that gives a false appearance of higher quality; a person can also put forth a false front or veneer.
Adj.
superficial
soo-per-FISH-uhl
Context
My pet fish Zach and Zebula are so superficial or shallow, concerned only about how their tails swish and how shiny their scales are. They never talk about anything important or about what really matters, but chat about superficial or surface things like who is swimming with whom and who ate the most fish food. They only get the superficial or obvious parts of the books we read in our school of fish, like who did what, not why someone did something. How I would love to meet someone other than Zach or Zebula who is not superficial or without depth, who doesn’t care so much about how they look but what they are like inside instead!
Quiz:Try again!
If you do superficial research for a project, what have you done?
You have done so much research that you are having a hard time sorting through it all.
You have extensively researched your topic and understand it on a deeper level.
You have only researched the basic and most obvious aspects of your topic.
Super SpecialFacial Candy is only concerned with getting the super specialfacial every day at the local spa, and then admiring her face for the rest of the day.
Examples
We have created an environment in which scrutiny of political candidates is superficial, and in which candidates can get away with knowing only enough about critical issues to fill a three-by-five-inch filing card.
—
Harper’s Magazine
The other day I heard a story about a friend’s recent experience with an energy services company. It got me thinking about the impact of a “superficial” or “surface level” customer service experience strategy and how applied experience design thinking could help in the design of cohesive service experiences.
—
Huffington Post
When one is superficial, one is only concerned with those aspects “above the face” or “over the surface,” not anything that is underneath.
Word Theater
Annie Hall A superficial couple.
The panel shows a small video clip of either the word in actual use or a scene that represents the meaning of a word. This not only breaks up the monotony of studying words but also provides another avenue to strengthen word meaning. Enjoy!
