Dictionary

perfunctorily en · ADV

Pronunciation

• /pəɹˈfʌŋkt(ə)ɹɪli/

Etymology

Etymology tree English perfunctory Middle English -ly English -ly English perfunctorily From perfunctory + -ly.

Meanings

1. In a perfunctory manner, without interest or concern for quality.
   • She answered perfunctorily. She said that, of course, they had picked out the two gunmen, but had thought nothing of it when the man with the stick had gone to stand behind Bond's chair. 1953, Ian Fleming, “‘La Vie En Rose’”, in Casino Royale, London: Pan Books, published 1955, page 100:
   • And it was while all were passionately intent upon the pleasing and snake-like progress of their uncle that a young girl in furs, ascending the stairs two at a time, peeped perfunctorily into the nursery as she passed the hallway—and halted amazed. 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
   • Luján, or, rather, the biped which used to be Luján, walks right up to him. He is a little shorter than Wheeler, but much heavier-set. Rooted to the spot, not thinking clearly, Wheeler holds his violin up, as if this will shield him. The conductor takes the instrument from his unresisting hands and breaks its neck underfoot, perfunctorily, as if crushing a box for recycling. 2019 April 10, qntm, “CASE HATE RED”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, page 138:
   • Tibor was circling the table and asking each of us how our entrée was, and we all regarded this as just one of those perfunctory waiter-questions and all perfunctorily smiled and cleared our mouths and said Fine, Fine—and Tibor finally stopped and looked down at us all with a pained expression and changed his timbre slightly so it was clear he was addressing the whole table: “Please. I ask each: is excellent? […]” 1997, David Foster Wallace, “A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again”, in A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, Kindle edition, Little, Brown Book Group:
   • Lim Cheng Po said an Anglican prayer or two, not too perfunctorily. 1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 606:

Forms

Translations (12)

pl lakonicznie (in a perfunctory manner) · fi pintapuolisesti (in a perfunctory manner) · nl voor de vorm (in a perfunctory manner) · nl zonder enthousiasme (in a perfunctory manner) · cmn 敷衍了事 (in a perfunctory manner) · ga ar nós cuma liom (in a perfunctory manner) · pl zdawkowo (in a perfunctory manner) · fr négligemment (in a perfunctory manner) · fr pour la forme (in a perfunctory manner) · fr sans enthousiasme (in a perfunctory manner) · fi puolihuolimattomasti (in a perfunctory manner) · pl beznamiętnie (in a perfunctory manner)