<<But why not use the existing word, "superficial."

The definition offered reflects my understanding of the author's intention. At the risk of being thought Mediaeval, what interested me vis-a-vis "superficious" was the substantiation of a quality. The noun form of the word, giving substance to something which otherwise, as adjective, refers to nothing more than the quality of a substance. By making substantial a thing which, by definition, is without independent existence, the author touches on an abiding obsession of mine. The notion is loosely related to Augustine's paradox of time which tswum raised in an antebabelian thread. On a more playful note, it relates to a word recently tendered by Dr. Bill, "anaphasia."