Word.ws English Dictionary

gone through the motions

gone through the motions is the past participle of go through the motions.

Meaning of go through the motions

Verb

go through the motions (third-person singular simple present goes through the motions, present participle going through the motions, simple past went through the motions, past participle gone through the motions)

  1. (idiomatic) To do something in a mechanical, unreflective manner, especially as a matter of routine and without commitment or enthusiasm; to perform a task perfunctorily.
    • Aleck was a Christian from the cradle, and duty and the force of habit required her to go through the motions.1905, Mark Twain, chapter 3, in The $30,000 Bequest

Questions about gone through the motions

What is gone through the motions the past participle of?
Gone through the motions is the past participle of go through the motions.

Words near gone through the motions in the dictionary

  1. gone through hell
  2. gone through hoops
  3. gone through the attitudes
  4. gone through the gears
  5. gone through the mill
  6. gone through the motions
  7. gone through the trouble
  8. gone through with
  9. gone to
  10. gone to bat
  11. gone to bed

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gone through the motions (page history and authors); go through the motions (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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