Skin-deep

Pronunciation varies by accent · adjective

Meaning

(figuratively) Shallow, superficial..

Example Sentences

Dead enough; to live thenceforth a galvanic life of mere Stump-Oratory; screeching and gibbering, words without wisdom, without veracity, without conviction more than skin-deep.

Would the wicked river drag me down by the heels, indeed? and look so beautiful all the time? Nature’s good-humour was only skin-deep after all.

“He calls himself a white man,” answered the Master-Attendant scornfully; “but if so, it’s just skin-deep and no more. I told him that to his face too.”

Olga de Coude is very beautiful; that, and the dim light and the seductive surroundings, and the appeal of the defenseless for protection, might have been resisted by a more civilized man, but my civilization is not even skin deep—it does not go deeper than my clothes.

She was wantonly aesthetic; but she was an excellent creature, kind and good natured; and her affectations were but skin-deep.

The painter smiled at once, his bright, skin-deep smile.

Chris Huhne, environment spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, said Mr Blair's remarks showed he was "delusional" on climate change and that his environmentalism was only "skin deep".

What news stories like this really show is that the rampant technology fetishism, which runs like e-wildfire through our i-society, is really only skin-deep.

Synonyms for skin-deep

Antonyms for skin-deep

Related Words

Word Forms

• skin deep

Usage Notes

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