Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use superficial in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, noun

Superficial means existing, occurring, or located on the surface. Example: “The epidermis is superficial to the subcutis.”

Examples of superficial by meaning

adjectiveClose to the surface of the body; especially, situated or occurring on the skin or immediately beneath it.

  • The epidermis is superficial to the subcutis.
  • The superficial fascia surrounds the body and includes subcutaneous fat; the deep fascia surrounds the musculoskeletal system; the meningeal fascia surrounds the nervous system; the visceral fascia surrounds body cavities and organs.2018 November 8, Dr. Melina Jampolis, “The real science behind fascia ailments”, in CNN
  • Investigators also noted a drop of blood on the headrest and backseat, which were consistent with superficial cuts.2026 July 18, Nicholas Muhoro, “Bryce Laspisa Vanished Near Castaic Lake After Spending 13 Hours Parked on a California Highway”, in Skip...

adjectiveNot thorough, deep, or complete; concerned only with the obvious or apparent.

  • Secondly, I continue to base my concepts on intensive study of a limited suite of collections, rather than superficial study of every packet that comes to hand.1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill....

adjectiveLacking depth of character or understanding; lacking substance or significance.

  • In this way they provided a measure of deniability—however superficial or implausible—for Moscow.⁴⁰2014, "Little Green Men": A Primer on Modern Russian Unconventional Warfare, Ukraine 2013–2014, Fort Bragg, North Carolina: The United...

adjectiveDenoting a quantity of a material expressed in terms of area covered rather than linear dimension or volume.

  • one superficial foot

nounA surface detail.

  • He always concentrates on the superficials and fails to see the real issue.

More sentences with superficial

  • Redness and swelling are associated with certain superficial infections.From the entry redness
  • In superficial mycoses infection is localised to the skin, the hair, and the nails. An example is ringworm or tinea, an infection of the skin by a dermatophyte.From the entry ringworm
  • This logic exposes the segregationist intent of tuition grants beneath the superficial color blindness.2020, Ursula Hackett, America's Voucher Politics: How Elites Learned to Hide the State, page 67. From the entry segregationist
  • But part of me was still glad to see this undoubtedly superficial take.2018 September 8, Sonia Sodha, “It’s time to ditch the stereotypes and look at the realities behind singledom”, in The Guardian, archived…. From the entry reality
  • Craze lines are thin, usually dark lines that appear to be superficial, without separation of adjacent segments.2014, Paul A. Rosenberg, Endodontic Pain, Diagnosis, Causes, Prevention and Treatment, page 67. From the entry craze line
  • The five most frequent clinical subtypes are: superficial, noduloulcerative (rodent ulcer), pigmented, cystic, morphoeic and metatypical (basosquamous).2013, Andreas Katsambas, Torello Lotti, European Handbook of Dermatological Treatments, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 69. From the entry morphoeic
  • Specific cell types are superficial cells and anuclear squame cells (Fig. 2-2).2011, Margaret V. Root Kustritz, Clinical Canine and Feline Reproduction: Evidence-Based Answers, page 7. From the entry squame
  • Dance or nondance, everything that occurs is both superficial and intense, even when Mr.2008 May 5, Alastair Macaulay, “Begging Encouragement as They Pose and Eat”, in New York Times. From the entry quasisexual
  • Are you promoltigating your exorditation or articulating superficial sentimentality and amicable philosophical observation?2006, Christine Matzke, Geoffrey V. Davis, Of Minstrelsy and Masks: The Legacy of Ezenwa-Ohaeto in Nigerian Writing, Rodopi, →ISBN, page 122. From the entry platitudeness
  • The first was histrionic PD, entailing superficial charm, insincerity, egocentricity and manipulativeness.2005 April 18, Oliver James, “Is your boss a psychopath?”, in The Guardian. From the entry PD
  • We mismeet in relatively superficial and trivial conditions as well as in crucial ones.2003, Dennis Sidney Ross, God in Our Relationships, page 73. From the entry mismeet
  • To indulge in hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian tergiversation is not to show your erudition: rather, it is to be superficial.1997, Steven George Krantz, A primer of mathematical writing. From the entry hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian
  • The posterior muscles of the neck are divided into superficial, intermediate, and deep groups.1994, Howard S. An with J. Michael Simpson, “Anatomy of the Cervical Spine”, in Surgery of the Cervical Spine, London: Martin Dunitz…. From the entry spine
  • Ulcerated BCC may mimic SCC, and Bowen's disease may be misdiagnosed for the superficial and morphoeic forms.1993, W. E. De Launey, Harvey Rotstein, W. A. Land, De Launey and Land Principles and Practice of Dermatology. From the entry SCC
  • The superficial temporal artery (or arteries) may become exquisitely tender to the touch and visibly indurated.1970, Oliver Sacks, chapter 1, in Migraine, London: Picador, published 1995, page 15. From the entry indurate
  • It is one of those ideas, based upon superficial knowledge, which appeal to the sophisticated modern public.1941, George Ryley Scott, Phallic Worship: A History of Sex and Sex Rites in Relation to the Religions of All Races from Antiquity to the…. From the entry fallacious
  • The testis has a rich superficial plexus beneath the tunica albuginea.1918, Henry Gray, Anatomy of the Human Body, page 687. From the entry tunica albuginea
  • The leg will gangrene if the superficial femoral vessels be torn.1911, British Medical Journal - Volume 1911, Issues 1-3, page 239. From the entry gangrene
  • They're used to me mostly talking about superficial stuff.2022 October 19, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Wednesday, Oct 19, 2022. From the entry squat
  • Endocytoscopy (Endocytoscopy,Olympus, Tokyo, Japan) is based on the principle of contact light microscopy permitting visualization of the superficial mucosal layer.2013, Sharmila Anandasabapathy, Advanced Imaging in Gastroenterology, →ISBN. From the entry endocytoscopy
  • Anything within that range is sufficient to accommodate all superficial anatomical details without resort to optimization beyond normal model cleanup.2009, Andrew Paquette, Computer Graphics for Artists II: Environments and Characters. From the entry tri
  • The superficial flake-like squames are eventually cast off (desquamate).2009, David Weedon, Weedon's Skin Pathology, page 248. From the entry squame
  • She secretly wanted to sabotage the typical tall, thin, and gorgeous stereotype of the superficial dance team member.2009, David Luck, Too Fat to Dance. From the entry danceline
  • Superficial peeling has always been a way to retinize the epidermis for patients that could not tolerate the use of tretinoin.2008 February, Hashimoto, Yukiko, MD; Suga, Yasushi, MD, PhD; Mizuno, Yuki, MD; Hasegawa, Toshio, MD; Matsuba, Shouichi, MD; Ikeda…. From the entry retinize
  • Though she's superficial to the point of noxiousness and obsessed with amassing cultural cache, her ridiculous affectations make up for it.2007 June 8, “The Treatment”, in Chicago Reader. From the entry noxiousness
  • A very superficial and Americanocentric view of history was a necessary adjunct to the reigning Americanocentric view of world affairs.2006, Norman Davies, No simple victory: World War II in Europe, 1939–1945, New York: Penguin, page 479. From the entry Americanocentric
  • The permanence of e-writing is only a superficial impression.2006, David Crystal, Language and the Internet, page 126. From the entry e-writing
  • Shteyngart is a master panoramist who paints in just three tones: exhausted grays, despairing browns and superficial golds.2006 April 30, Walter Kirn, “Russian Unorthodox”, in The New York Times. From the entry panoramist
  • It is superficial and it does no justice at all to the complex beings that all people are.1998, Sue Jackson, Gael Wallace, quoting Maggie Millar, Women of Substance, St Leonards, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin, →ISBN, page 113. From the entry bonkability
  • Americans watch their 91 channels of superficial satellite sop.1988 August 20, Rex Wockner, “Nobody Can Do It Like The USA”, in Gay Community News, volume 16, number 6, page 5. From the entry sop
  • Moon into a single, simplistic whole, thereby promoting a superficial and ahistorical understanding of religion cross-culturally and over the millennia.1986 April 5, Jeanne Bergman, Jackie Urla, “Needed: A Better Critique of Religion”, in Gay Community News, page 5. From the entry cross-culturally
  • The most superficial phenomena are sometimes the most profound.1975, Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Capital. 1848-1875, published 1995, page 270. From the entry profound
  • We may debate the origin of evil, but only a victim of superficial optimism would debate its reality.1963, Martin Luther King, Jr., “The Death of Evil upon the Seashore”, in Strength to Love, New York: Pocket Books, published 1964, →OCLC…. From the entry evil

Meaning of superficial

  1. adjective Existing, occurring, or located on the surface.
  2. adjective Close to the surface of the body; especially, situated or occurring on the skin or immediately beneath it.
  3. adjective Appearing to be true or real only until examined more closely.

Full definition of superficial

Questions about superficial in a sentence

How do you use superficial in a sentence?
Superficial is used as an adjective and noun. For example: “The epidermis is superficial to the subcutis.”
What is a short sentence with superficial?
“one superficial foot”
What does superficial mean?
Superficial means existing, occurring, or located on the surface.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: superficial (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use superficial in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/superficial. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.