partial vs superficial

partial

adj
  • existing as a part or portion; incomplete 

  • of 

  • having a predilection for something 

  • biased in favor of a person, side, or point of view, especially when dealing with a competition or dispute 

  • describing a property that holds only when an algorithm terminates 

  • subordinate 

  • of or relating to a partial derivative or partial differential 

verb
  • To take the partial regression coefficient. 

noun
  • An incomplete fingerprint 

  • dentures that replace only some of the natural teeth 

  • Any of the sine waves which make up a complex tone; often an overtone or harmonic of the fundamental. 

  • A partial derivative: a derivative with respect to one independent variable of a function in multiple variables while holding the other variables constant. 

  • A fragment of a template containing markup. 

  • The condition of not exhausting the amplitude during the repetition of an exercise. 

superficial

adj
  • Existing, occurring, or located on the surface. 

  • Not thorough, deep, or complete; concerned only with the obvious or apparent. 

  • Lacking depth of character or understanding; lacking substance or significance. 

  • Appearing to be true or real only until examined more closely. 

  • Situated or occurring on the skin or immediately beneath it. 

  • Two-dimensional; drawn on a flat surface. 

  • Denoting a quantity of a material expressed in terms of area covered rather than linear dimension or volume. 

noun
  • A surface detail. 

How often have the words partial and superficial occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )