perfunctory

C2+ Topic:Law & Government

US /pərˈfʌŋktəri/ UK /pəˈfʌŋktəri/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
carried out with minimal effort or care, as a routine duty

He gave the documents only a perfunctory glance.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · carried out with minimal... cursory superficial mechanical careless hasty token offhand

Opposites

thorough careful diligent meticulous

Word family

Forms perfunctorily

Derived forms perfunctorilyperfunctoriness

Related forms function functionary

Etymology

From Late Latin perfunctorius ('careless, done merely to get through a task'), from Latin perfungi ('to perform, get through'), from per- ('through') + fungi ('to perform, discharge').

perfunctorius Latin perfungi Latin fungi Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Law & Government Word Formation & Derivatives

# perfunctory

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** pərˈfʌŋktəri
**IPA (UK):** pəˈfʌŋktəri

## Meanings
1. carried out with minimal effort or care, as a routine duty

## Examples
- He gave the documents only a perfunctory glance.

## Synonyms
- cursory
- superficial
- mechanical
- careless
- hasty
- token
- offhand

## Antonyms
- thorough
- careful
- diligent
- meticulous

## Derived Forms
- perfunctorily
- perfunctoriness

## Related Forms
- function
- functionary

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: perfunctorius
- Root: perfungi
- Root: fungi

## Etymology
From Late Latin perfunctorius ('careless, done merely to get through a task'), from Latin perfungi ('to perform, get through'), from per- ('through') + fungi ('to perform, discharge').

## AI Etymology
Perfunctory is from Late Latin perfunctorius ('careless, done merely to get through a task'), from Latin perfungi ('to perform, get through'), from per- ('through') + fungi ('to perform, discharge'). Important recorded forms include perfunctorius (Latin), perfungi (Latin), and fungi (Latin). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense remains close to that composition, with the parts narrowing into a single lexical item. In current use it covers carried out with minimal effort or care, as a routine duty. The wider family includes derived forms such as perfunctorily and perfunctoriness and related words such as function and functionary.

## Topics
- Law & Government
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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perfunctory

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