What does "surficial" mean?

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

What is a synonym for "surficial"?

Common synonyms include: superficial, superficial.

How do you pronounce "surficial"?

Pronounced //səɹˈfɪʃ(ə)l//.

Surficial

//səɹˈfɪʃ(ə)l// adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective

1
Of or pertaining to the surface of something, particularly the surface of the Earth. not-comparable
"When the soil swells on wetting, the former surficial material is mixed with the subsoil."

Adjective

1
pertaining to or occurring on or near the earth's surface wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

superficial superficial

Example

More examples

"Hard surfaces, such as concrete, cover large portions of land, impede the natural absorption of water, and thus exacerbate surficial erosion on adjacent unprotected land."

Etymology

From superficial, under influence from surface.

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