1. Moving or jumping from one thing to another; disconnected: a desultory speech.
2. Occurring haphazardly; random. See Synonyms at chance.
[Latin dsultrius, leaping, from dsultor, a leaper, from dsultus, past participle of dsilre, to leap down : d-, de- + salre, to jump; see sel- in Indo-European roots.]
desultory – marked by lack of definite plan or regularity or purpose; jumping from one thing to another; “desultory thoughts”; “the desultory conversation characteristic of cocktail parties”
s
l-tôr
, -t
r
re, to leap down : d
