perfunctory
10
8.7
- adjective
- /pərˈfʌŋk.tər.i/
- It felt perfunctory, like your heart wasn't in it.
- perfunctory manner
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Watch on YouTubeIt's, you know, perfunctory, like it doesn't matter.
- It's, you know, perfunctory, like it doesn't matter.
- But it's, you know, some of it can be so perfunctory and so dull if you're not careful.
- Some people can accept like, and again, I don't want to be judgmental, but like, perfunctory sex.
Examples
-
The catalogers of minor planets could make only perfunctory checks on reported observations.
Academic text (1996) -
When judges do receive those forms, they are usually filled out in a perfunctory manner.
Academic text (2017) -
Well, let me take back my perfunctory congratulations.
-
"Happy Birthday," asked a few perfunctory questions, and said she had to go somewhere.
Fiction book (1997) -
Therefore, this course cannot offer more than a perfunctory presentation of these musical cultures.
Academic text (1997) -
Leadership publications too often treat the issue in perfunctory or platitudinous terms.
Academic text (2017) -
After an exchange of perfunctory reciprocal praise, Seth got down to business.
Fiction book (1995) -
The protests of the two women at my early departure were perfunctory; their farewells were just as mechanical.
Fiction book (1992) -
I bowed my head and, in my usual perfunctory fashion, rattled off the evening's prayer.
Fiction book (1997) -
When she returned the book, her apology felt perfunctory, as if she didn't really mean it.
Synonyms
173
2.8
Informal and relaxed, not serious
87
5.6
Not thorough and only about what is obvious, not deep
23
4.8
Done quickly and without close attention
22
7.0
Done quickly without enough attention to detail
7
7.7
Done only to meet rules and without real effect
Antonyms
How Thorough
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word perfunctory comes from Latin parts per- and fungi, where fungi meant 'to do' or 'perform', and this same root is behind the word function. So it came to mean doing something only as a duty or just to finish, which is why perfunctory means 'done quickly and without real interest'.