MEANING
Carried out as a routine obligation without much attention or interest.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- perfunctory inspection
- perfunctory greeting
On the page
A perfunctory inspection missed the crack.
Her perfunctory greeting offered no real welcome.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- perfunctory
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Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: Comparative more perfunctory; superlative most perfunctory where gradation is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.
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