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perfunctory
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  • The obligatory questions, the perfunctory answers.  (source)
    perfunctory = done without much interest
  • a feeble and perfunctory attempt to clear away some of the appalling mess of his study.  (source)
    perfunctory = done without much interest or effort
  • He smiled at her but it was perfunctory.  (source)
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  • Together they waged a perfunctory battle against the outrageous behavior of that place; against turned-over slop jars, smacks on the behind, and gusts of sour air.  (source)
    perfunctory = done quickly without concern or attention to detail
  • He glanced perfunctorily at it, and shoved it in his pocket.  (source)
    perfunctorily = without much interest or effort
  • They had about them a perfunctory air, like men accustomed to caring for livestock.  (source)
    perfunctory = working without much effort
  • They searched the house perfunctorily and found nothing except both the evidence of what they took to be extreme loneliness and a room full of beautiful dollhouses on the second floor, where they switched topics and asked him how long he had been building them.  (source)
    perfunctorily = without much interest or effort
  • It will be perfunctory, since it's clear he was trampled.  (source)
    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.  (source)
    perfunctorily = without much interest or effort
  • Officially, it was my job to keep the ice bucket full and make sure the music was audible, but other than doing this on a most perfunctory level, I wasn't exactly mingling.  (source)
    perfunctory = done without much interest or effort
  • NICK (Perfunctorily) Yes indeed . . . very handsome.  (source)
    Perfunctorily = without much interest
  • The sheriff would make a perfunctory trip out, but instead of searching through the pines for the still he would sit on the porch until suppertime, and have some beans and cornbread.  (source)
    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.  (source)
    perfunctorily = done without much interest or effort -- as when dispensing with a formality
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