Sample sentences for PERFUNCTORY

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Definition

done without much interest or effort — especially as when dispensing with a formality

perfunctory = done without much interest or effort

perfunctory = done without much interest or effort

...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

perfunctorily = without much interest or effort

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

perfunctory = done without much interest

A few shot perfunctorily at distant marks.
Stephen Crane -- The Red Badge of Courage

perfunctorily = without much interest or effort

It will be perfunctory, since it's clear he was trampled.
Sara Gruen -- Water for Elephants

perfunctory = done without much interest or effort

The agent had asked Serena the perfunctory question, "Did you bring anything back from Haiti?"
Tracy Kidder -- Mountains Beyond Mountains

perfunctory = done without much interest

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

perfunctory = done without much interest or effort

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

perfunctorily = without much interest or effort

A rapid and somewhat perfunctory search followed.
Agatha Christie -- Murder On The Orient Express

perfunctory = done quickly without concern or attention to detail

He perfunctorily thrusts them into his pockets, unconsciously decorating himself with the protruding ends of the chains.
George Bernard Shaw -- Pygmalion

perfunctorily = done quickly without concern or attention to detail

MEEKER swears her in perfunctorily.
Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee -- Inherit the Wind

perfunctorily = without much interest

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

perfunctorily = without much interest or effort

They had about them a perfunctory air, like men accustomed to caring for livestock.
Cormac McCarthy -- All the Pretty Horses

perfunctory = working without much effort

He offered to accompany her to the hospital, but in a perfunctory way.
Khaled Hosseini -- And The Mountains Echoed

perfunctory = done without much interest or effort- (as though he felt he had to offer, but didn't really want to go)

She could not be negative or perfunctory about anything.
Willa Cather -- My Antonia

perfunctory = without much interest or effort

He gave us each a perfunctory greeting and...
Jim Stovall -- The Ultimate Gift

perfunctory = done without much interest or effort

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

perfunctorily = done without much interest or effort — as when dispensing with a formality

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 = behave without much interest or effort

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