perfunctory

• POS: Adjective
• HYPHEN: per=func=to=ry

CIDE DICTIONARY

perfunctory, 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.  [1913 Webster]
•  Hence: Mechanical; indifferent; listless; careless.  Sharp.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

perfunctory, adj.
1 done merely for the sake of getting through a duty.
2 superficial; mechanical.

Derivative

perfunctorily adv. perfunctoriness n.

Etymology

LL perfunctorius careless f. L perfungi perfunct- (as PER-, fungi perform)

THESAURUS

perfunctory

Laodicean, airy, apathetic, at odds, ataractic, automatic, averse, backward, balking, balky, blase, businesslike, careless, casual, cold, cool, cursory, degage, devil-may-care, differing, dilatory, disagreeing, disinclined, disinterested, dismissive, disobedient, dispassionate, disregardant, disregardful, distant, easygoing, fervorless, fleeting, flippant, forced, forgetful, formal, fractious, free and easy, grudging, halfhearted, hasty, heedless, hurried, impersonal, inattentive, inconsiderate, incurious, indifferent, indisposed, indocile, inexcitable, insouciant, involuntary, lackadaisical, laggard, lazy, listless, loath, lukewarm, mechanical, mindless, mutinous, negligent, neuter, neutral, nonchalant, oblivious, offhand, opposed, pococurante, recalcitrant, reckless, refractory, regardless, reluctant, removed, renitent, resistant, respectless, restive, routine, rushed, sketchy, slipshod, slovenly, slow, slow to, spotty, standard, stock, sulky, sullen, superficial, tactless, tepid, thoughtless, turned-off, unanxious, unaware, unconcerned, unconsenting, undiplomatic, undiscriminating, unenthusiastic, unheedful, unheeding, uninterested, uninvolved, unmindful, unprepared, unready, unsolicitous, untactful, unthinking, unwilling, unzealous, usual, wooden, zealless

ROGET THESAURUS

perfunctory

Insufficiency

N insufficiency, inadequacy, inadequateness, incompetence, deficiency, imperfection, shortcoming, paucity, stint, scantiness, none to spare, bare subsistence, scarcity, dearth, want, need, lack, poverty, exigency, inanition, starvation, famine, drought, dole, mite, pittance, short allowance, short commons, half rations, banyan day, emptiness, poorness, depletion, vacancy, flaccidity, ebb tide, low water, a beggarly account of empty boxes, indigence, insolvency, drain of resources, impoverish, stint, put on short allowance, do insufficiently, scotch the snake, Adj, insufficient, inadequate, too little, not enough, unequal to, incompetent, weighed in the balance and found wanting, perfunctory, deficient, wanting imperfect, ill-furnished, ill-provided, ill- stored, ill-off, slack, at a low ebb, empty, vacant, bare, short of, out of, destitute of, devoid of, bereft of, denuded of, dry, drained, unprovided, unsupplied, unfurnished, unreplenished, unfed, unstored, untreasured, empty-handed, meager, poor, thin, scrimp, sparing, spare, stinted, starved, starving, halfstarved, famine-stricken, famished, jejune, scant, scarce, not to be had, not to be had for love or money, not to be had at any price, scurvy, stingy, at the end of one's tether, without resources, in want, in debt, insufficiently, in default of, for want of, failing, semper avarus eget.

Incompleteness

N incompleteness, deficiency, short measure, shortcoming, insufficiency, imperfection, immaturity, half measures, defect, deficit, defalcation, omission, caret, shortage, interval, break, noncompletion, missing link, missing piece, missing part, gap, hole, lacuna, incomplete, imperfect, unfinished, uncompleted &c (complete), defective, deficient, wanting, lacking, failing, in default, in arrear, short of, hollow, meager, lame, halfand-half, perfunctory, sketchy, crude, mutilated, garbled, docked, lopped, truncated, in progress, in hand, going on, proceeding, incompletely, by halves, caetera desunt, caret.

Shortcoming

N shortcoming, failure, falling short, default, defalcation, leeway, labor in vain, no go, incompleteness, imperfection, insufficiency, noncompletion, failure, unreached, deficient, short, short of, minus, out of depth, perfunctory, within the mark, within the compass, within the bounds, behindhand, re infecta, to no purpose, for from it, the bubble burst.

Neglect

N neglect, carelessness, trifling, negligence, omission, oversight, laches, default, supineness, inattention, nonchalance, imprudence, recklessness, slovenliness improvidence, noncompletion, inexactness, paralipsis, paralepsis, paraleipsis (in rhetoric), trifler, waiter on Providence, Micawber, neglecting, unmindful, negligent, neglectful, heedless, careless, thoughtless, perfunctory, remiss, feebleness, inconsiderate, uncircumspect, incircumspect, off one's guard, unwary, unwatchful, unguarded, offhand, supine, inattentive, insouciant, imprudent, reckless, slovenly inexact, improvident, neglected, unheeded, uncared-for, unperceived, unseen, unobserved, unnoticed, unnoted, unmarked, unattended to, unthought of, unregarded, unremarked, unmissed, shunted, shelved, unexamined, unstudied, unsearched, unscanned, unweighed, unsifted, unexplored, abandoned, buried in a napkin, hid under a bushel, negligently, hand over head, anyhow, in an unguarded moment, per incuriam, Int, never mind, no matter, let it pass, out of sight, out of mind.