Standard Lemma guide

surficial

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /səːˈfɪʃəl/
  • Received-Pronunciation: [səːˈfɪʃəl] ~ [səːˈfɪʃl̩]
  • General-American: /sɚˈfɪʃəl/
  • General-American: [sɚˈfɪʃəl] ~ [sɚˈfɪʃl̩]
  • rhymes with -ɪʃəl

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of or pertaining to the surface of something, particularly the surface of the Earth.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: astronomy, geography, geology, natural-sciences

Examples

  • When the soil swells on wetting, the former surficial material is mixed with the subsoil.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: superficial

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective

Meaning 2

pertaining to or occurring on or near the earth's surface

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a surficial geologic deposit

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From superficial, under influence from surface.

Across languages

Translations

5 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: surfacique — pertaining to the surface
  • German: oberflächlich — pertaining to the surface
  • Lithuanian: paviršinis — pertaining to the surface
  • Norwegian Bokmål: overfladisk — pertaining to the surface
  • Spanish: superficial — pertaining to the surface