3 uses
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Definition
done without much interest or effort — especially as when dispensing with a formality
- She thereupon turned round and lifted her face to his, and remained like a marble term while he imprinted a kiss upon her cheek—half perfunctorily, half as if zest had not yet quite died out.2 — Maiden No More (12% in)
- These and other of his words were nothing but the perfunctory babble of the surface while the depths remained paralyzed.5 — The Woman Pays (1% in)
- Up here also the shutters were tightly closed, the ventilation being perfunctorily done, for this day at least, by opening the hall-window in front and an upper window behind.7 — Fulfilment (69% in)
There are no more uses of "perfunctory" in Tess of the d'Urbervilles.
Typical Usage
(best examples)