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Definition
done without much interest or effort — especially as when dispensing with a formality- She gave us menus and a perfunctory smile.
perfunctory = done without much interest or effort
- Her perfunctory apology did little to ease my annoyance.
- ...and he read her disapproval in every perfunctory and unenthusiastic line of her letter.London, Jack -- Martin Eden
- He glanced perfunctorily at it, and shoved it in his pocket.Ray Bradbury -- Fahrenheit 451
- At the house, Rasheed covered her with a quilt when she lay on the couch, but there was a stiff, perfunctory air about this gesture.Khaled Hosseini -- A Thousand Splendid Suns
- A few shot perfunctorily at distant marks.Stephen Crane -- The Red Badge of Courage
- It will be perfunctory, since it's clear he was trampled.Sara Gruen -- Water for Elephants
- The agent had asked Serena the perfunctory question, "Did you bring anything back from Haiti?"Tracy Kidder -- Mountains Beyond Mountains
- a feeble and perfunctory attempt to clear away some of the appalling mess of his study.Douglas Adams -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- He was invited perfunctorily every Sunday, but he seemed to know that he oughtn't to come and always managed an excuse.Katherine Paterson -- Jacob Have I Loved
- A rapid and somewhat perfunctory search followed.Agatha Christie -- Murder On The Orient Express
- He perfunctorily thrusts them into his pockets, unconsciously decorating himself with the protruding ends of the chains.George Bernard Shaw -- Pygmalion
- MEEKER swears her in perfunctorily.Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee -- Inherit the Wind
- The steer came up to him and made as though to nose at him and the bull hooked perfunctorily.Ernest Hemingway -- The Sun Also Rises
- They had about them a perfunctory air, like men accustomed to caring for livestock.Cormac McCarthy -- All the Pretty Horses
- He offered to accompany her to the hospital, but in a perfunctory way.Khaled Hosseini -- And The Mountains Echoed
- She could not be negative or perfunctory about anything.Willa Cather -- My Antonia
- He gave us each a perfunctory greeting and...Jim Stovall -- The Ultimate Gift
- And the guards who, when Volkovoi wasn't around, carried out the frisking perfunctorily, now flung themselves into their work with savage zeal.Alexander Solzhenitsyn -- One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
- Camila had intended to be perfunctory and if possible impudent, but now she was struck for the first time with the dignity of the old woman.Thornton Wilder -- The Bridge of San Luis Rey
perfunctory = done without much interest or effort
perfunctorily = without much interest or effort
perfunctory = done without much interest
perfunctorily = without much interest or effort
perfunctory = done without much interest or effort
perfunctory = done without much interest
perfunctory = done without much interest or effort
perfunctorily = without much interest or effort
perfunctory = done quickly without concern or attention to detail
perfunctorily = done quickly without concern or attention to detail
perfunctorily = without much interest
perfunctorily = without much interest or effort
perfunctory = working without much effort
perfunctory = done without much interest or effort- (as though he felt he had to offer, but didn't really want to go)
perfunctory = without much interest or effort
perfunctory = done without much interest or effort
perfunctorily = done without much interest or effort — as when dispensing with a formality
perfunctory = behave without much interest or effort