Saltatory

//ˈsæltət(ə)ɹi// adj

adj ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of or pertaining to leaps or leaping.

    "When we had all laughed and applauded till we were faint, Starling, not to be outdone, favoured us with a more modern saltatory entertainment in the Lancashire clog manner — to the best of my belief, the longest dance ever performed […]"

  2. 2
    Proceeding by leaps rather than by smooth, continuous variation.

Example

More examples

"When we had all laughed and applauded till we were faint, Starling, not to be outdone, favoured us with a more modern saltatory entertainment in the Lancashire clog manner — to the best of my belief, the longest dance ever performed […]"

Etymology

From saltate + -ory.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.