Adjective : desultory conversation. ,a desultory remark. From Dictionary.com.
Just past noon they ate desultorily, without appetite. From Wordnik.com. [beneath an opal moon]
He walked to the glass wall and looked out desultorily. From Wordnik.com. [The Creature from Cleveland Depths] Reference
"Might as well be washing windows," he said desultorily. From Wordnik.com. [Last Drop]
And the women would sit desultorily about, on the ground. From Wordnik.com. [The Plumed Serpent] Reference
"Third mortgages," Grandma desultorily informed the floor. From Wordnik.com. [Shampoo Planet]
Presently she braked herself and began desultorily to clean the walls. From Wordnik.com. [I Don’t Understand ?] Reference
"That's fortunate," said Whitlow, munching desultorily at his sandwich. From Wordnik.com. [Minor Detail] Reference
As they talked desultorily a group of khaki clad youngsters filed past. From Wordnik.com. [Wild Wings A Romance of Youth] Reference
Occasionally they put in a dutiful stitch or two, but very desultorily. From Wordnik.com. [A River So Long] Reference
Oil wells, black outlines against the colorless earth, pumped desultorily. From Wordnik.com. [Best Kept Secrets]
There are no metal detectors, only a woman who desultorily glances at our bag. From Wordnik.com. [The Perils of Paulite] Reference
The human beings talked desultorily for a while, but finally appeared to sleep. From Wordnik.com. [The Nitrogen Fix]
The doctor gave a soft clap of his hands and desultorily asked how I had slept. From Wordnik.com. [The Curse of the Wendigo] Reference
‘Can we wait somewhere here till this shower is over?’ said Stephen desultorily. From Wordnik.com. [A Pair of Blue Eyes] Reference
Ordering a few leaves and poking at them desultorily does not constitute sharing a meal. From Wordnik.com. [Dr. Ali Binazir: How to Irritate Men] Reference
I wandered round the place where the stable had been, desultorily kicking at loose stones. From Wordnik.com. [Knockdown]
Boyd and four other agents were already there, all standing around and talking desultorily in low tones. From Wordnik.com. [Supermind] Reference
I worked too, but desultorily, part time music jobs, teaching piano lessons, taking some classes here and there. From Wordnik.com. [Whew!] Reference
I looked toward shore, seeking movement, but saw only a boy driving a cow desultorily along the road to Brunswick. From Wordnik.com. [A Breath of Snow and Ashes]
On a few of these miniature farms, people were desultorily scratching at the wet ground with hoes, I don't know why. From Wordnik.com. [Time and Again]
On Wednesday morning Roger and I walked down the centre aisle, desultorily checking the big empty rooms to each side. From Wordnik.com. [Decider]
Faced with these sorts of cases, almost every federal appeals court had desultorily endorsed the collective rights view. From Wordnik.com. [How a Young Lawyer Saved the Second Amendment] Reference
They talked desultorily for some minutes, then, without apparent reason, a yell from the telescreen bade them be silent. From Wordnik.com. [Nineteen Eighty-four] Reference
One of the housegirls " Zistele " jumped back from where she had been sweeping " desultorily " the tiles in the entry foyer. From Wordnik.com. [Alector's Choice]
Fred Colon and Nobby Nobbs show up to desultorily repeat their tired old shtick, which even Pratchett seems to find tedious. From Wordnik.com. [Archive 2006-01-01] Reference
Barnes & Noble and Abebooks.com make it possible to roam desultorily through the collections of thousands of used booksellers. From Wordnik.com. [Good books, not new ones] Reference
She turned desultorily hither and thither, until she heard another tread without, and there came a second knocking at the door. From Wordnik.com. [A Changed Man] Reference
With which she walked away, desultorily, up the road. From Wordnik.com. [Women in Love] Reference
Waiting thus, they talked desultorily for some moments. From Wordnik.com. [The Historical Nights' Entertainment First Series] Reference
He spent whole nights in reading, and no longer desultorily. From Wordnik.com. [My Novel — Complete] Reference
I found a note of it in a diary which Brande kept desultorily. From Wordnik.com. [The Crack of Doom] Reference
After my interview with Leonora I went desultorily into Edward's gun-room. From Wordnik.com. [The Good Soldier] Reference
He saw her drifting desultorily under the high hedge, advancing towards him slowly. From Wordnik.com. [Women in Love] Reference
The public -- still feeling dissatisfied -- watched desultorily for a while the doings in the imperial tribune. From Wordnik.com. ["Unto Caesar"] Reference
The hundred men at the Gobelins must have worked but sadly and desultorily over such scant and distasteful commissioning. From Wordnik.com. [The Tapestry Book] Reference
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