Perfunctory is an English word with synonyms like casual or cursory. Below you'll find 10+ example sentences showing how it's used in practice.
Perfunctory in a sentence
Perfunctory meaning
- Done only or merely to conform to a minimal standard or to fulfill a protocol or presumptive duty.
- Performed in a careless or indifferent manner as a thing of rote.
Perfunctory vertaling naar Nederlands
Using Perfunctory
- The main meaning on this page is: Done only or merely to conform to a minimal standard or to fulfill a protocol or presumptive duty. | Performed in a careless or indifferent manner as a thing of rote.
- Useful related words include: casual, cursory, passing, careless.
- Possible Dutch translations are: (louter) plichtmatig, machinaal, werktuiglijk.
- In the example corpus, perfunctory often appears in combinations such as: the perfunctory, most perfunctory, as perfunctory.
Context around Perfunctory
- Average sentence length in these examples: 24.4 words
- Position in the sentence: 2 start, 6 middle, 12 end
- Sentence types: 20 statements, 0 questions, 0 exclamations
Corpus analysis for Perfunctory
- In this selection, "perfunctory" usually appears near the end of the sentence. The average example has 24.4 words, and this corpus slice is mostly made up of statements.
- Around the word, word, scant, feels, sums, examination and fashion stand out and add context to how "perfunctory" is used.
- Recognizable usage signals include a perfunctory examination of and a short perfunctory hearing tuesday. That gives this page its own corpus information beyond isolated example sentences.
- By corpus frequency, "perfunctory" sits close to words such as abstention, acadiana and actuarial, which helps place it inside the broader word index.
Example types with perfunctory
The same corpus examples are grouped by length and sentence type, making it easier to see the contexts in which the word appears:
Pak’s fact-checking was perfunctory, partial, or both. (9 words)
Even the nicest smelling ones always managed to feel perfunctory. (10 words)
The media report of the killings was perfunctory, at best. (10 words)
The third season is set to find Lestat "resentful of the perfunctory portrayal in the trashy bestseller 'Interview With the Vampire'" and will see him "set his story straight in a way only the Vampire Lestat can — by starting a band and going on tour. (45 words)
My avid reader identity, previously as immutable as the fact that I have blue eyes and hate coriander, had been eroded over time until there was nothing left but the perfunctory paragraph or two I managed before bed. (38 words)
Lawyers and trial observers also that administrative trials had been perfunctory, with judges basing rulings solely on police testimony, refusing to consider or take steps to respond to defendant statements about beatings, torture and other ill-treatment. (37 words)
Example sentences (20)
And while it wasn’t bad, per se, the word “perfunctory” sums up what transpired that evening.
A perfunctory examination of the rationale behind the implementation of the scheme uncovers a program that was instituted to foster national cohesion and tackle the issue of discord.
Charter changes requested by local governments in Delaware are typically approved in the General Assembly in perfunctory fashion without debate or controversy.
In Myanmar, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to name a few crisis zones, egregious abuses and unrelieved misery attracted relatively scant, perfunctory international scrutiny.
It’s juvenile, devoid of heart and wonder, and it feels perfunctory.
The evil chef serves as a perfunctory antagonist for the Mallards, speaking only in grunts and growls.
The first episodes of Daisy Jones and the Six are enjoyable, but also the show's most perfunctory, moving pieces into place for the moment when Daisy and Billy finally cross paths.
The guy who the other City Council members pretended to want to either step down as vice mayor or resign his seat got his turn to read a perfunctory statement.
Even the nicest smelling ones always managed to feel perfunctory.
It referred to Britain’s refusal to return artefacts to other countries and accused the museum in particular of ”adopting a resistant, protracted and perfunctory attitude”.
Lawyers and trial observers also that administrative trials had been perfunctory, with judges basing rulings solely on police testimony, refusing to consider or take steps to respond to defendant statements about beatings, torture and other ill-treatment.
My avid reader identity, previously as immutable as the fact that I have blue eyes and hate coriander, had been eroded over time until there was nothing left but the perfunctory paragraph or two I managed before bed.
On state TV channels, the media outlets with the biggest audiences in Russia, there has been minimal coverage of Navalny's death, and the first reports were largely slow to come and perfunctory.
The third season is set to find Lestat "resentful of the perfunctory portrayal in the trashy bestseller 'Interview With the Vampire'" and will see him "set his story straight in a way only the Vampire Lestat can — by starting a band and going on tour.
Pak’s fact-checking was perfunctory, partial, or both.
The media report of the killings was perfunctory, at best.
We all know it doesn’t work on the hiring end and can be considered perfunctory by those getting hired.
After this win in Acapulco Wednesday night, as the crowd showered him in boos, Nadal slid him the most perfunctory of handshakes.
But once he has reached his destination, after all that toil and strife, the actual purpose of his voyage turns out to be perfunctory—besides the point.
Edward M. Burke pleaded not guilty to sweeping corruption charges in what turned out to be a short, perfunctory hearing Tuesday at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse.
Common combinations with perfunctory
These word pairs occur most frequently in English texts: