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perfunctory

brief, disinterested

TRANSLATION

perfunctory = oberflächlich, desinteressiert, flüchtig, routinemäßig, nachlässig, der Form halber —— perfunctory smile = oberflächliches Lächeln

STATISTICS

IN THE PRESS

Suella Braverman forced to resign as UK home secretary — In her PERFUNCTORY reply, Truss told her former home secretary: “I accept your resignation and respect the decision you have made’.”

Pippa Crerar, Peter Walker, Aubrey Allegretti - The Guardian (19th October 2022)

Did you
know?

perfunctory
adjective

- done quickly, without taking care or interest

- performed merely as a routine duty; hasty and superficial

The Cambridge Dictionary / Dictionary Com


WORD ORIGIN

The word “perfunctory” meaning “done mechanically or without interest or zeal and merely for the sake of being rid of the duty of doing it; done so as to conform to the letter but not the spirit”, is from the 1580s, from Late Latin perfunctorius “careless, negligent”, literally “like one who wishes to get through a thing,” from Latin perfungus “discharge, busy oneself, get through”, from per “through” + fungi “perform”.


SYNONYMS

- carried out without real interest, feeling, or concern

aloof from, apathetic (towards), asleep at the wheel (on the job), automatic, blasé, blithe, bloodless, by the numbers, clinical, couldn’t care less, cursory, desultory, detached, devil-may-care, dilatory, disinterested, doesn’t care, don’t give a damn, going through motions, indifferent (about, to), insensible, insensitive, insouciant, joyless, just watching the clock, lackadaisical, lacking concern (conviction, in energy), lacklustre, languid, mechanical, nonchalant (about), not bothered, not giving a damn (a monkey’s, a toss), offhand about, out of it, passionless, PERFUNCTORY, pro forma, robotic, slap-happy, slapdash, slipshod, sloppy, soulless, spiritless, surface-level, take-it-or-leave-it, token, torpid, unbothered, uncaring, unconcerned (about), unenthusiastic (about), unexcited, unfeeling, uninspired, uninterested, uninvolved (in, with), unmoved by, unthinking, walking through it, what the hell, wooden, workshy


SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“It’s not nice to see customers or newcomers to a company being given a PERFUNCTORY welcome.”


THANKS to Christine for suggesting today’s word.


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