different between immethodical vs cursory

English

Etymology

From im- +? methodical.

Adjective

immethodical (comparative more immethodical, superlative most immethodical)

1. (obsolete) Unmethodical.
   • 1659, John Milton, Considerations Touching the Likeliest Means to Remove Hirelings out of the Church, Pontefract: Charles Elcock, 1831, p. 20,^[1]

     Yet not so much through their own fault, as through the unskilful and immethodical teaching of their pastor, teaching here and there at random out of this and that text, as his ease or fancy, and oft-times as his stealth guides him.

   • 1728, Daniel Defoe, Augusta Triumphans: or, the Way to Make London the Most Flourishing City in the Universe, London: J. Roberts, p. 27,^[2]

     I must beg my reader’s indulgence, being the most immethodical writer imaginable. It is true I lay down a scheme, but fancy is so fertile I often start fresh hints, and cannot but pursue them; pardon therefore, kind reader, my digressive way of writing, and let the subject, not the style or method, engage thy attention.

   • 1817, Jane Austen, Persuasion, Chapter 21,^[3]

     The letter I am looking for was one written by Mr Elliot to him before our marriage, and happened to be saved; why, one can hardly imagine. But he was careless and immethodical, like other men, about those things; and when I came to examine his papers, I found it with others still more trivial, from different people scattered here and there, while many letters and memorandums of real importance had been destroyed.

   • 1844, Edgar Allan Poe, “A Tale of the Ragged Mountains” in The Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, New York: The Brampton Society, 1902, Volume 5, p. 77,^[4]

     In the quivering of a leaf—in the hue of a blade of grass—in the shape of a trefoil—in the humming of a bee—in the gleaming of a dew-drop—in the breathing of the wind—in the faint odors that came from the forest—there came a whole universe of suggestion—a gay and motley train of rhapsodical and immethodical thought.

Derived terms

• immethodically
• immethodicalness

Translations

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French cursoire (“rapid”), from Latin cursorius (“hasty, of a race or running”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?k??.s?.?i/, /?k??s.?i/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?k??.s?.?i/, /?k??s.?i/
• (General New Zealand) IPA^(key): /?k??.s?.?i/, /?k??s.?i/
• Hyphenation: cur?so?ry, curs?ory

Adjective

cursory (comparative more cursory, superlative most cursory)

1. hasty or superficial

   Most junk mail requires only a cursory glance.

2. careless or desultory

   The cursory inspection missed several irregularities.

3. (obsolete) Running about; not stationary.

Derived terms

• cursorily
• cursoriness

Translations

Related terms

• cursor
• course

See also

• perfunctory