Desultorily Meaning: Definition and Examples

Psychology

• Desultory behavior can often indicate distractedness, which might be due to fatigue or overstimulation.
• People who talk desultorily may struggle to maintain attention on their thoughts, often leading to fragmented conversations.
• Such a style of communication is common when individuals are anxious, making it harder to follow one line of thought.

Literature

• Desultory writing can create a sense of unpredictability, engaging readers in a more free-flowing narrative.
• Famous authors like James Joyce played with desultory styles, reflecting the randomness of human thought.
• In poetry, a desultory approach can evoke feelings of chaos or confusion, mirroring the complexities of life.

Pop Culture

• Many comedians use a desultory style in their routines, hopping between jokes and stories for comedic effect.
• Modern films, especially in the indie genre, often embrace desultory storytelling, reflecting real-life unpredictability.
• Social media platforms encourage desultory conversation through rapid scrolling, making it easy to lose track of topics.

Education

• In a classroom setting, desultory discussions can hinder learning, as they often move away from learning objectives.
• Teachers often have to guide students back on track when conversations become too desultory.
• Structured methods can be utilized to keep discussions focused, thus reducing desultory patterns in classroom interactions.

Main points about word origin

• The word comes from the Latin 'desultorius,' meaning 'jumping about' or 'leaping.'
• It originally described a type of actor in ancient Rome who would switch from one story to another without warning.
• The term has evolved to refer not just to acting, but also to speaking or behaving without focus.

The word 'desultorily' originates from the Latin 'desultorius', which means 'leaping down' or 'jumping about'. It stems from 'desultor', referring to a performer who jumped from one horse to another, thus conveying the idea of changing or shifting rapidly without staying focused on one topic. This Latin term, in turn, derives from 'de-' (meaning 'down from') and 'saltare' (to leap). By the late 19th century, 'desultorily' entered the English language, maintaining the original meaning of a disjointed or haphazard manner of conveying thoughts or actions. It is often used in literary contexts to describe dialogue or narrative that lacks cohesiveness.

Ranking #39,614, this word is encountered relatively rarely in everyday English. It might appear in literary works or specialized texts but isn't essential for general communication.

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• 39614 desultorily
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