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Rudimentary vs Superficial - What's the difference?

rudimentary | superficial |

As adjectives the difference between rudimentary and superficial

is that rudimentary is of or relating to one or more rudiments while superficial is shallow, lacking substance.

As a noun superficial is

(chiefly in plural) a surface detail.

rudimentary

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • of or relating to one or more rudiments
    • I have only a rudimentary grasp of chemistry .
  • Basic; minimal; with less than, or only the minimum, necessary.
    • His grasp of rudimentary English allowed him at least to do the shopping .
    His rudimentary driving skills meant that he was a danger on the road .

    Related terms

    * rudiment

    superficial

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Shallow, lacking substance.
  • At face value.
  • *
    • 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.
  • Of or pertaining to the surface.
  • Being near the surface.
  • (rare) Two-dimensional; drawn on a flat surface.

    • Synonyms

    * (of or pertaining to the surface) surficial

    Antonyms

    * in-depth * thorough * (lacking substance) substantive

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (chiefly in plural) A surface detail.
    • He always concentrates on the superficials and fails to see the real issue.

    Related terms

    * superfice (archaic) ----