skin-deep

[ skin-deep ]

adjective

1. superficial or slight; not profound or substantial:

   Their sincerity is only skin-deep.

adverb

1. slightly; superficially:

   He went into the subject only skin-deep.

skin-deep

adjective

1. superficial; shallow

adverb

1. superficially

Word History and Origins

Origin of skin-deep¹

First recorded in 1605–15

Idioms and Phrases

see beauty is only skin deep .

Example Sentences

The story may be only skin-deep, but Banks and Pullman find something truthfully hopeless in these surface pleasures.”

From Los Angeles Times

But the most spirited discussions at Cannes are over whether the movie is trenchant or skin-deep.

From New York Times

Studies exploring skin-deep resilience have found evidence of a health toll in outwardly resilient young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds, including higher risk of inflammation, immune cell aging, metabolic disorders, and chronic disease.

From Science Daily

Movies* Some advocates for overweight people say the comedy’s use of fat jokes perpetuates the skin-deep stereotypes its makers set out to debunk.

From Los Angeles Times

The pursuit of improvement was more than skin-deep: Every shopping trip offered the possibility that I would find the product that would change everything, not only my visage but my very nature.

From New York Times