superficial vs vital

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. 

vital

adj
  • Necessary to continued existence. 

  • Invigorating or life-giving. 

  • Very important. 

  • Containing life; living. 

  • Necessary to the continuation of life; being the seat of life; being that on which life depends. 

  • Capable of living; in a state to live; viable. 

  • Relating to the recording of life events. 

  • Relating to, or characteristic of life. 

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