desultory

/ˈdɛs.əl.t(ə).ɹi/

//ˈdɛs.əl.t(ə).ɹi// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"desultory" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“desultory” is uncommon English (frequency #84,162 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#84,162
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Jumping, or passing, from one thing or subject to another, without order, planning, or rational connection; lacking logical sequence.

Corpus desk

Index EN-desultory · desultory · English

desultory · rank #84,162 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #84,162
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH destructively

Nearest frequency peer: destructively (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “desultory”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “desultory” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for desultory
PropertyValue
Headworddesultory
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈdɛs.əl.t(ə).ɹi/
Letters9
Frequency rank#84,162
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “desultory” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).desultoryfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “destructively” (#84,161), “derailleur” (#84,159), “diatom” (#84,167). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “desultory” is #84,162. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

desultory is uncommon English at frequency #84,162 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈdɛs.əl.t(ə).ɹi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for desultory in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin dēsultōrius (“hasty, casual, superficial”), from dēsultor (“a circus rider who jumped from one galloping horse to another”), from dēsiliō (“jump down”), from dē (“down”) + saliō (“jump, leap”). The correct English form is desultory, spelled D-E-S-U-L-T-O-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Jumping, or passing, from one thing or subject to another, without order, planning, or rational connection; lacking logical sequence.
  2. 2
    Out of course; by the way; not connected with the subject.
  3. 3
    Disappointing in performance or progress.
  4. 4
    Leaping, skipping or flitting about, generally in a random or unsteady manner.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how desultory appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. He wandered round, cleaning up in a desultory way.
  2. I teach a class of desultory minds.

Etymology

From Latin dēsultōrius (“hasty, casual, superficial”), from dēsultor (“a circus rider who jumped from one galloping horse to another”), from dēsiliō (“jump down”), from dē (“down”) + saliō (“jump, leap”).

This word in other languages

incoherente(Español)sprunghaft(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "desultory"?
"desultory" is spelled D-E-S-U-L-T-O-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈdɛs.əl.t(ə).ɹi/.
What does "desultory" mean?
As an adjective, "desultory" means: Jumping, or passing, from one thing or subject to another, without order, planning, or rational connection; lacking logical sequence.
How do you pronounce "desultory"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "desultory" is /ˈdɛs.əl.t(ə).ɹi/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "desultory"?
From Latin dēsultōrius (“hasty, casual, superficial”), from dēsultor (“a circus rider who jumped from one galloping horse to another”), from dēsiliō (“jump down”), from dē (“down”) + saliō (“jump, leap”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "desultory", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

decoction#84,156diffident#84,168damascene#84,144cotillion#84,120

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list