superficial

English

Etymology

Borrowing from Late Latin superficiālis (“of or belonging to the surface”), from superficiēs (“top, surface”) +‎ -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

Pronunciation

• (non-rhotic)
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌsuːpəˈfɪʃəl/, [ˌsʊu̯pəˈfɪʃəl] ~ [ˌsʊu̯pəˈfɪʃl̩]
• (rhotic)
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌsupɚˈfɪʃəl/, [ˌsʊu̯pɚˈfɪʃəl] ~ [ˌsʊu̯pɹ̩ˈfɪʃl̩]

    • Audio (Southern California):

      (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪʃəl
• Hyphenation: sup‧er‧fi‧cial

Adjective

superficial (comparative more superficial, superlative most superficial)

1. (relational) Existing, occurring, or located on the surface.

   Synonym: surficial

   2. (anatomy, relational, often with to) Close to the surface of the body; especially, situated or occurring on the skin or immediately beneath it.

      Antonym: deep

      superficial muscles

      The epidermis is superficial to the subcutis.

      • 2018 November 8, Dr. Melina Jampolis, “The real science behind fascia ailments”, in CNN‎^[1]:

        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.

2. Appearing to be true or real only until examined more closely.

   Synonym: external

3. Not thorough, deep, or complete; concerned only with the obvious or apparent.

   Synonyms: cursory, facile, sketchy, glib, skin-deep, smattering, surface-level

   Antonyms: in-depth, thorough

   • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page vii:

     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.

   1. ​Lacking depth of character or understanding; lacking substance or significance.

      Synonym: shallow

      Antonym: substantive

      • 2014, "Little Green Men": A Primer on Modern Russian Unconventional Warfare, Ukraine 2013–2014‎^[2], Fort Bragg, North Carolina: The United States Army Special Operations Command, page 43:

        These infamous little green men appeared during the decisive seizures or buildings and facilities, only to disappear when associated militias and local troops arrived to consolidate the gains. In this way they provided a measure of deniability—however superficial or implausible—for Moscow.⁴⁰

4. (rare) Two-dimensional; drawn on a flat surface.
5. (UK, architecture) Denoting a quantity of a material expressed in terms of area covered rather than linear dimension or volume.

   Synonym: square

   one superficial foot

Derived terms

• nonsuperficial
• subsuperficial
• superficial fascia
• superficialism
• superficialist
• superficiality
• superficialize, superficialise
• superficially
• superficialness
• superficial temporal artery
• superficial vein
• unsuperficial

Related terms

• superficiary

Translations

existing or located on the surface

• Arabic: سَطْحِيّ (saṭḥiyy)
• Bulgarian: повърхностен (bg) (povǎrhnosten)
• Catalan: superficial (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 表面的 (zh) (biǎomiàn de)

• Finnish: pinnallinen (fi), pinta- (fi)
• Georgian: ზედაპირული (zedaṗiruli)
• German: oberflächlich (de)
• Greek: επιφανειακός (el) (epifaneiakós)

  Ancient Greek: ἐπιπόλαιος (epipólaios)

• Hebrew: שִׁטְחִי (shitkhí)
• Hindi: सतही (sathī)
• Hungarian: felszíni (hu), felületi (hu)
• Italian: superficiale (it)
• Latin: superficiālis
• Lithuanian: paviršinis
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: overfladisk (no)

• Polish: powierzchniowy (pl)
• Portuguese: superficial (pt)
• Russian: пове́рхностный (ru) (povérxnostnyj)
• Spanish: superficial (es)
• Turkish: yüzeysel (tr)
• Ukrainian: поверхне́вий (poverxnévyj)
• Yiddish: אויבנאויפֿיק (oybnoyfik)
• Zazaki: sereyran

on or immediately beneath the skin

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 淺層 / 浅层 (qiǎncéng); 淺 / 浅 (zh) (qiǎn)

• Finnish: pinnallinen (fi), pinta- (fi)
• German: oberflächlich (de), äußerlich (de)
• Hindi: सतही (sathī)
• Māori: ākahu, kirimoko
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: overfladisk (no)

• Portuguese: superficial (pt)
• Russian: пове́рхностный (ru) (povérxnostnyj)

appearing to be true

• Finnish: näennäinen (fi)

not thorough, concerned with the obvious or apparent

• Finnish: pintapuolinen, pinnallinen (fi)
• Greek: επιφανειακός (el) (epifaneiakós)
• Lithuanian: paviršutiniškas, preliminarus

lacking understanding or substance

• Arabic: سَطْحِيّ (saṭḥiyy)
• Bengali: উদাসীন (bn) (udaśin)
• Catalan: superficial (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 膚淺 / 肤浅 (zh) (fūqiǎn)

• Czech: povrchní (cs)
• Danish: overfladisk
• Dutch: oppervlakkig (nl)
• Esperanto: supraĵa, malprofunda
• Estonian: pinnapealne
• Finnish: pinnallinen (fi)
• French: superficiel (fr)
• Georgian: ზედაპირული (zedaṗiruli)
• German: oberflächlich (de)
• Greek: ρηχός (el) (richós), αβαθής (el) (avathís)

  Ancient Greek: ἐπιπόλαιος (epipólaios)

• Hebrew: שִׁטְחִי (shitkhí)
• Hindi: सतही (sathī)
• Hungarian: felszínes (hu), felületes (hu)
• Icelandic: yfirborðskenndur
• Italian: superficiale (it)
• Lithuanian: paviršutiniškas
• Māori: mōhio ngutu (of understanding)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: overfladisk (no)

• Polish: powierzchowny (pl)
• Portuguese: superficial (pt)
• Romanian: superficial (ro)
• Russian: неглубо́кий (ru) (neglubókij), пове́рхностный (ru) (povérxnostnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: faoin
• Spanish: superficial (es)
• Swedish: ytlig (sv)
• Turkish: yüzeysel (tr), üstünkörü (tr)
• Yiddish: אויבנאויפֿיק (oybnoyfik)
• Zazaki: payaser

two-dimensional, drawn on a flat surface

• Finnish: kaksiulotteinen (fi)

architecture: denoting a quantity in terms of area

See also

• (anatomy): topical

Noun

superficial (plural superficials)

1. (usually in the plural) A surface detail.

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

Related terms

• superfice (archaic)

References

• “superficial”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “superficial”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin superficiālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [su.pər.fi.siˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [su.peɾ.fi.siˈal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

superficial m or f (masculine and feminine plural superficials)

1. superficial

Derived terms

• superficialitat
• superficialment

Related terms

• superfície

Further reading

• “superficial”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “superficial”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “superficial” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “superficial”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Galician

Etymology

From Latin superficiālis.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /supeɾfiˈθjal/ [s̺u.peɾ.fiˈθjɑɫ]

• IPA^(key): (standard) /supeɾfiˈθjal/ [s̺u.peɾ.fiˈθjɑɫ]
• IPA^(key): (seseo) /supeɾfiˈsjal/ [su.peɾ.fiˈsjɑɫ]

• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: su‧per‧fi‧cial

Adjective

superficial m or f (plural superficiais)

1. superficial
2. surficial; of the surface

Derived terms

• superficialidade
• superficialmente

Related terms

• superficie

Further reading

• “superficial”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Interlingua

Adjective

superficial (not comparable)

1. superficial (pertaining to the surface)

Related terms

• superficie

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin superficiālis. By surface analysis, superfície +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /su.peʁ.fi.siˈaw/ [su.peh.fi.sɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /su.peʁ.fiˈsjaw/ [su.peh.fiˈsjaʊ̯]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /su.peʁ.fi.siˈaw/ [su.peh.fi.sɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /su.peʁ.fiˈsjaw/ [su.peh.fiˈsjaʊ̯]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /su.peɾ.fi.siˈaw/ [su.peɾ.fi.sɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /su.peɾ.fiˈsjaw/ [su.peɾ.fiˈsjaʊ̯]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /su.peʁ.fi.siˈaw/ [su.peχ.fi.sɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /su.peʁ.fiˈsjaw/ [su.peχ.fiˈsjaʊ̯]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /su.peɻ.fi.siˈaw/ [su.peɻ.fi.sɪˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /su.peɻ.fiˈsjaw/ [su.peɻ.fiˈsjaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /su.pɨɾ.fiˈsjal/ [su.pɨɾ.fiˈsjaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /su.pɨɾ.fiˈsjal/ [su.pɨɾ.fiˈsjaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /su.pɨɾ.fiˈsja.li/

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: su‧per‧fi‧ci‧al

Adjective

superficial m or f (plural superficiais)

1. superficial (comprising a surface)

   camada superficial ― surface layer

2. superficial; shallow (not reaching or penetrating deep)

   ferida superficial ― superficial wound

3. shallow (overly concerned with superficial matters)

   pessoa superficial ― shallow person

4. superficial (lacking thoroughness or attention to minor details)

   análise superficial ― superficial analysis

Derived terms

• superficialidade
• superficialismo
• superficialmente

Related terms

• superfície

Further reading

• “superficial”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “superficial”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French superficiel. By surface analysis, superficie +‎ -al.

Adjective

superficial m or n (feminine singular superficială, masculine plural superficiali, feminine/neuter plural superficiale)

1. shallow (about people)

Declension

Declension of superficial

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	superficial		superficială	superficiali	superficiale
	definite	superficialul		superficiala	superficialii	superficialele
genitive- dative	indefinite	superficial		superficiale	superficiali	superficiale
	definite	superficialului		superficialei	superficialilor	superficialelor

Related terms

• superficialitate

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin superficiālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /supeɾfiˈθjal/ [su.peɾ.fiˈθjal] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /supeɾfiˈsjal/ [su.peɾ.fiˈsjal] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: su‧per‧fi‧cial

Adjective

superficial m or f (masculine and feminine plural superficiales)

1. superficial
   • 2013 January 15, “2012 fue el noveno año más cálido desde 1880, según científicos de la NASA”, in CNN en Español‎^[3]:

     El GISS detalló que sus resultados son producto de una compilación de datos, de más de 1,000 estaciones meteorológicas de todo el mundo, de las observaciones satelitales de temperatura superficial del mar, y de las mediciones de estaciones antárticas de investigación.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   Synonym: somero

2. shallow (lacking substance)

   Antonym: profundo

Derived terms

• agua superficial
• superficialidad
• superficialmente
• tensión superficial

Related terms

• superficie

Further reading

• “superficial”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025