perfunctory
UK/pəˈfʌŋk.t(ə)ɹɪ//pɚˈfʌŋk.tɚ.i/
perfunctory adjective: done only or merely to conform to a minimal standard or to fulfill a protocol or presumptive duty.
Adjective
perfunctory (comparative more perfunctory, superlative most perfunctory)
- Done only or merely to conform to a minimal standard or to fulfill a protocol or presumptive duty.
- a perfunctory kiss
- I caught the gist of what he was saying--which in effect was that he had found and captured this Galu, that she was his and that he defied anyone to question his right of possession. It appeared to me, as I afterward learned was the fact, that I was witnessing the most primitive of marriage...1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter VIII, in The Land That Time Forgot
- Synonyms:
- automatic, cursory, obligatory, pro forma, token, unthinking
- Performed in a careless or indifferent manner as a thing of rote.
- He did a perfunctory job cleaning his dad's car, finishing quickly but leaving a few spots still dirty.
- Alternatively it may mean that a perfunctory search is enough to ensure that a purchase is acceptable, so less search is carried out.1992, Peter Bowbrick, The Economics of Quality, Grades, and Brands, page 55
- Synonyms:
- haphazard, mechanical, slipshod
perfunctory meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
perfunctory in Tamil
- ஈடுபாடற்ற, கவனமற்ற, மனந்தோயாத, ஒப்புக்கு, கடனுக்குச் செய்கிற, சிரத்தையற்ற
perfunctory in Urdu
- برائے نام, جلدی کا کام
perfunctory in Bengali
- দায়সারা, আন্তরিক মনোযোগ ছাড়া করা
perfunctory in Malayalam
- അശ്രദ്ധയായ, ഉദാസീനമായ, അലസമായ
More languagesFewer languages
- perfunctory in Kannada
- ತೋರಿಕೆಯ, ಎಚ್ಚರವಿಲ್ಲದ, ಗೊಡವೆಯಿಲ್ಲದ, ಅಸಡ್ಡೆಯ
- perfunctory in Vietnamese
- qua loa, hời hợt, đại khái
Examples of perfunctory in a sentence
- The assembled members of the tribe looked on and listened in a sort of dull and perfunctory apathy, for the speaker was by far the mightiest of the clan.1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter VIII, in The Land That Time Forgot:
- He then poured some wine for me to taste, and harassed me with perfunctory courtesies that had to be acknowledged.1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 338:
- The second section of the episode charged from Winterfell to Highgarden and Oldtown in a way that felt perfunctory.2017 July 30, Ali Barthwell, “Ice and fire finally meet in a front-loaded episode of Game Of Thrones (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club:
- Instead, he issued two perfunctory tweets in which he asked them merely to remain “peaceful.”2021 January 6, Luke Broadwater, Emily Cochrane, Matt Stevens, “Congress Rejects Republican Challenge to Pennsylvania Electors, After Day...
Synonyms of perfunctory
Antonyms
Forms of perfunctory
| comparative | more perfunctory |
|---|---|
| superlative | most perfunctory |
Origin of perfunctory
From Late Latin perfunctōrius (“careless, negligent”), from the past participial stem of perfungor, perfunct- (“perform, carry through”), from per- + fungor.
Words formed from perfunctory
Questions about perfunctory
- What does perfunctory mean?
- Perfunctory means done only or merely to conform to a minimal standard or to fulfill a protocol or presumptive duty.
- What is perfunctory in Tamil?
- Perfunctory in Tamil is ஈடுபாடற்ற, கவனமற்ற, மனந்தோயாத. See Perfunctory meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use perfunctory in a sentence?
- The assembled members of the tribe looked on and listened in a sort of dull and perfunctory apathy, for the speaker was by far the mightiest of the clan.
- What part of speech is perfunctory?
- Perfunctory is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce perfunctory?
- Perfunctory is pronounced /pəˈfʌŋk.t(ə)ɹɪ/ (UK).
Words near perfunctory in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: perfunctory (page history and authors); perfunctory (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); perfunctory (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); perfunctory (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); perfunctory (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); perfunctory (Kannada Wiktionary) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-perfunctory.ogg.
Cite this entry: “perfunctory.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/perfunctory. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.