shallowness
Surface-level only trait
Shallowness is lack of depth—physical or intellectual.
Water has shallowness when it's not deep enough to swim in.
A person shows shallowness when their thinking or interests don't go beyond surface appearances: The shallowness of his analysis disappointed everyone.
The word often carries judgment, implying someone is vapid or concerned only with trivial things.
Lacking depth or substance
- simplisticExcessively basic, ignoring complexity
- trivialLacking significance or weight
- glibSuperficially articulate
- cursoryHasty and incomplete
perfunctory · skin-deep · facile · reductive · uninformed · incurious · unexamined · thoughtless
Distance below surface
- surfaceOutermost boundary layer
- wadingTraversing shallow water on foot
- sandbarUnderwater ridge of sediment
- shoalShallow water hazard
reef · puddle · basin · tidepool · ford · estuary · littoral · paddling
Empty within
- emptyHolding nothing inside
- vapidDull, without depth
- insincereFeigning belief or feeling
- detachedApart or uninvolved
cold · unfeeling · callous · indifferent · disengaged · numb · aloof · unmoved
Excessive pride in oneself
- materialismPrioritizing goods over spirit
- frivolityUnserious, lighthearted conduct
- pettinessFocus on insignificant matters
- narcissismExcessive admiration of oneself
self-absorption · pretension · affectation · showiness · flashiness · status-seeking · trophy · name-dropping
superficial
Lacking depth or substance
- simplisticExcessively basic, ignoring complexity
- trivialLacking significance or weight
- glibSuperficially articulate
cursory · perfunctory · skin-deep · facile · reductive · uninformed · incurious · unexamined · thoughtless · surface-level
depth
Distance below surface
- surfaceOutermost boundary layer
- wadingTraversing shallow water on foot
- sandbarUnderwater ridge of sediment
shoal · reef · puddle · basin · tidepool · ford · estuary · littoral · paddling · ankle-deep
hollow
Empty within
detached · cold · unfeeling · callous · indifferent · disengaged · numb · aloof · unmoved · apathetic
vanity
Excessive pride in oneself
- materialismPrioritizing goods over spirit
- frivolityUnserious, lighthearted conduct
- pettinessFocus on insignificant matters
narcissism · self-absorption · pretension · affectation · showiness · flashiness · status-seeking · trophy · name-dropping
respiration
Gas exchange in organisms
hyperventilation · wheeze · breath · labored · rapid · faint · weak · shortness · irregular · chest
- superficialitysuperficiality, hollowness, emptiness, skin deep, insubstantiality
- philistinismanti-intellectualism, boorishness, tastelessness, uncouthness
- deceptionlie, lies, lying, fake, fraud
- flawsfaults, defect, flaw, blemish, flaws
- frivolousnesssilliness, whimsy, playfulness, levity, giddiness
- futilityfutile, futility, in vain, pointlessness, vain
shallownessdepth
Distance below surface
deepness · profundity · profoundness · thoroughness · insightfulness
shallownessdepth
Distance below surface
substance · profundity · seriousness · soulfulness · meaningfulness