superficially

«superficially» in Mova's school dictionary: only on the surface or at first look, not deeply: «They… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

adverb (superficially)

meaning for a pupil

1) Superficially means only on the surface or at first look, not deeply: «They look superficially alike». tree →

2) Superficially can mean done quickly and carelessly, without real thought or care. tree →

3) (medical) Superficially injured means hurt only on the skin, not deep inside. tree →

sense in the lessons

In reading and science lessons, «superficially similar» is used when two things look alike but are really different (a whale and a fish). In reports, a teacher may say work was done superficially, meaning without enough depth. In health, a superficial cut is shallow. Phrases: «superficially similar», «only superficially».

examples

• Bats and birds are superficially alike, but bats are mammals. tree →
• He read the chapter only superficially and missed the main point. tree →
• The driver was superficially injured, with just a few scratches. tree →
• The twins look superficially the same but act very differently. tree →
• The problem was fixed superficially, so it came back. tree →
• Superficially, the plan looked good. tree →

note

From «superficial» + -ly. «Super-» here means «above» (on the surface), not «very good». It is often a criticism: «superficial» = shallow.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «superficially» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.