perfunctory
Americanadjective
-
performed merely as a routine duty; hasty and superficial.
perfunctory courtesy.
- Synonyms:
- uninterested, thoughtless, heedless, negligent
-
lacking interest, care, or enthusiasm; indifferent or apathetic.
In his lectures he reveals himself to be merely a perfunctory speaker.
- Synonyms:
- uninterested, thoughtless, heedless, negligent
adjective
-
done superficially, only as a matter of routine; careless or cursory
-
dull or indifferent
Other Word Forms
- perfunctorily adverb
- perfunctoriness noun
Etymology
Origin of perfunctory
1575–85; < Late Latin perfūnctōrius negligent, superficial, derivative of perfungī to do one's job, be done, equivalent to per- per- + fung-, base of fungī to perform, function + -tōrius -tory 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“This constellation of foreign investment from China and from Gulf States, with complex and sometimes competing relationships with the United States, demands rigorous, not perfunctory review,” Booker and the others wrote.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026
What surprised me at the time was how homogeneous board discussions and decisions were, with votes often being unanimous and seemingly perfunctory.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 13, 2026
As I visited congressional offices this week, meeting with sources and watching members of Congress interact with their constituents, it felt perfunctory — and, in some cases, sad.
From Salon • Feb. 13, 2026
Right there, you have the perfect shadow-docket sandwich: perfunctory, bad decisionmaking, conclusory predictions about what constitutes an “emergency” and who’s going to win, decided in a couple of days, wiping out extensive factual findings.
From Slate • Jan. 3, 2026
The guys were pretty silent except for perfunctory replies to Isabelle’s string of inane chatter about which sorority she wanted to join.
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
