Crossword clues for perfunctory
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Perfunctory \Per*func"to*ry\, a. [L. perfunctorius, fr. perfunctus dispatched, p. p. of perfungi to discharge, dispatch; per (see Per) + fungi to perform. See Function.]
Done merely to get rid of a duty; performed mechanically and as a thing of rote; done in a careless and superficial manner; characterized by indifference; as, perfunctory admonitions.
--Macaulay.Hence: Mechanical; indifferent; listless; careless. ``Perfunctory in his devotions.''
--Sharp.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1580s, from Late Latin perfunctorius "careless, negligent," literally "like one who wishes to get through a thing," from Latin perfungus, past participle of perfungi "discharge, busy oneself, get through," from per- "through" + fungi "perform" (see function (n.)). Related: Perfunctorily.
Wiktionary
a. Done merely to discharge a duty; performed mechanically and as a thing of rote; done in a careless and superficial manner; characterized by indifference; as, perfunctory admonitions; aspiring only to minimum standards.
WordNet
Usage examples of "perfunctory".
I checked the grantor-grantee indices and did a perfunctory bringdown on the title of Vista Mer.
Thereafter the food was appreciatively consumed, the few trans mensal exchanges wholly mundane and perfunctory, the bottle of Claret rapidly going and going and soon wholly gone.
My own attention, so perfunctory at first that I scarcely realised that this was the vocabulary no longer of geology but of meteorology, was completely held in the end.
She gave me a perfunctory nod before focusing on Morelli, who had paid no attention to my order and was standing close behind me.
Nabokov said goodbye to Kerensky, a perfunctory farewell to Bunin, and descended the steps with the oracular, dark-bearded Merezhkovsky and the overpainted Gippius.
He and the psychopomp, though they had seen each other once every other year for over a decade, had never progressed beyond the most perfunctory of pleasantries.
Instinctively, Martin knew that if he told Daniela he was a seminarian, her attitude toward him would change, and she would become distant and perfunctory in their association.
The menu was being presented in a perfunctory drone, as if Marr and Senn had been forced into this new business through economic desperation.
He squatted down disgustedly, gave a perfunctory brush of his hand against the dangling teats, and began pulling the milk, squit, squit, shish, down into the pail.
He peered at Steingall and the hotel clerk many times, but gave Curtis and Devar only a perfunctory glance.
Not only is churchgoing perfunctory or absent, but in all ranks of life there is a disposition to make it a day of rest and amusement--sometimes the amusement rather than the rest.
Each time a stone from the ballista struck the wall there was a shout, but there was nothing spontaneous in the demonstration, which seemed as perfunctory as the mechanical operation of the ancient war-engine that delivered its missiles with almost clocklike regularity.
His understanding of what the Book of Mormon predicted about artifacts left by the Lamanites and the Nephites was perfunctory, even elementary.
To the surprise of most of his hearers--and to the satisfaction of the suspicious--there was no word of the recent crowning mercies, save a perfunctory mention in the opening prayer.
Preproduction physical exams are routine nonevents, perfunctory once-overs by doctors working for studio insurance carriers.