Hastily and often carelessly done.
Example:
Having spent the weekend going to parties, she was only able to give the chapter a cursory reading before class on Monday.
Unlike the other words in this section, cursory always implies speed but also stresses a lot of attention to detail. When citizens complain about a cursory police investigation of a crime, they are distressed by its lack of thoroughness, not its speed. Cursory observations are made quickly, but more importantly they are probably shallow or superficial.