How To Use Perfunctory In A Sentence
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Mothers dropped off their young sons for the first term with a perfunctory peck on the cheek.
Times, Sunday Times
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Police investigations are often perfunctory.
Times, Sunday Times
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She slipped between sheets squeaky with cold, pinched at my hand, a perfunctory touch, and rolled away onto her side.
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She'd boil a dozen eggs to use later for deviled eggs - hers were zingy with mayo, sharp mustard, bit of vinegar, the perfunctory paprika.
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They only made a perfunctory effort.
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Some of the perfunctory descriptions they offer of the movies they sell on DVD are a scream.
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I created you concede the fact that I do not have to love again perfunctory explanation.
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I created you concede the fact that I do not have to love again perfunctory explanation.
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I created you concede the fact that I do not have to love again perfunctory explanation.
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They learned fairly to live in the perfunctory; they remained in it as many hours of the day as might be; it took on finally the likeness of some spacious central chamber in a haunted house, a great overarched and overglazed rotunda, where gaiety might reign, but the doors of which opened into sinister circular passages.
The Golden Bowl — Complete
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The spores do germinate, go through a few perfunctory cell divisions, then give up the ghost.
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That wretched apology of a creature stripped from me my dirt-encrusted shirt that I had worn since my entrance to solitary, and exposed my poor wasted body, the skin ridged like brown parchment over the ribs and sore-infested from the many bouts with the jacket The examination was shamelessly perfunctory.
Chapter 10
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They pulled out all his clothes and bundled them into plastic bin-liners, pushing perfunctory receipts into her unwilling hand.
DEATH AND TRANSFIGURATION
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The only animation in the marquise's rotund and double-chinned face, as she loosens her lips into a perfunctory smile, is to be found in her alert eyes as she looks up from her embroidery.
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He, who neither drank nor smoked, who never wasted the weight of his arms in an embrace, nor the touch of his lips a second longer than the most perfunctory of kisses, who was invariably up before cockcrow and asleep ere the kerosene lamp had a tenth emptied itself, and who never thought to die, was dead even more quickly than Brother Hal and Prince Lilolilo.
ON THE MAKALOA MAT
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After a perfunctory search, the soldiers found nothing suspicious in his vehicle and the incident was written off as a tragic accident.
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I performed a few perfunctory twirls and made good my escape.
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Beneath a perfunctory veil of fiction, Keneally shows us a real-life tyrant exercising a power so absolute and unfeeling that it appears amoral, rather than immoral.
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When Willie did bother to sing, his voice was rich and strong, but "perfunctory" would be a kind way to describe most of his vocal and instrumental work.
Archive 2009-07-01
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After a lot of perfunctory goodbyes, and Cess waving to the bus as it pulled away while dabbing at his eyes with a hanky, Brownlegg beckoned everyone to the backseat while he had a sly smoke of his panatella.
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He asked what happened, made some perfunctory enquiries, reset the cord and carried on.
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perfunctory courtesy
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His hands are very soft but quite puffy too, and his shake is straight from the school of perfunctory political politeness.
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While doctors have influenced world events by personal interaction, and can do so again, the involvement of our professional organisations and colleges has generally been perfunctory.
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Lane mentions this (ii. 74) but in his usual perfunctory way gives no paginal references to the Calc. or Bresl.; so that those who would verify the text may have the displeasure of hunting for it.
The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night
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Inter-agency activity ranged across a continuum from the perfunctory to the innovative.
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After a lot of perfunctory goodbyes, and Cess waving to the bus as it pulled away while dabbing at his eyes with a hanky, Brownlegg beckoned everyone to the backseat while he had a sly smoke of his panatella.
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Normally I would welcome anyone who asked to join our table with open arms, and then, after the perfunctory small talk (I live in a very friendly neighbourhood), go about the business of eating with my girl because my neighbourhood is actually friendlier than I am.
Okra Doesn't Impress Me
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I heard Bill Nichols, managing editor of Politico. com, tell all DC news radio WTOP that Hillary gave only a "perfunctory" performance -- a "bare minimum of support for Obama.
Hillary: "Were You In This Campaign Just For Me?"
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The film is perfunctory, even prudish, in its depiction of sex and refuses to acknowledge Aids.
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Although previously prepared forms may be used, special care should be exercised to insure that the use of forms of report of investigation does not result in perfunctory or inaccurate certifications of compliance with the requirements of this paragraph (34).
EXECUTIVE ORDER 10214
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Still, if her attempts to marry wealth are perfunctory, her efforts to increase hers are disastrous.
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While there are meetings galore, the minutes, if any, are a perfunctory affair.
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She gave him a perfunctory smile.
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She gave the list only a perfunctory glance.
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The relentlessness of the jokes grows wearisome, and the ending is perfunctory and trite.
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The officer threw Bach a perfunctory military salute.
Bomber
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Friday's rain-lashed practice session was no more than a few perfunctory laps to give the spectators something to watch.
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However, this poor, perfunctory effort will do the band more harm than good.
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Schnittke's through-composed style is at times powerfully direct, but sometimes too direct, the chorus's declamation dramatic yet detached and almost perfunctory.
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She knew they were failures, and he read her disapproval in every perfunctory and unenthusiastic line of her letter.
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They only made a perfunctory effort.
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The officer threw Bach a perfunctory military salute.
Bomber
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A perfunctory love lost evolve into black and white color.
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Without individualized merit pay, teacher evaluations will remain perfunctory at best.
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Mothers dropped off their young sons for the first term with a perfunctory peck on the cheek.
Times, Sunday Times
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The movie is monotonous and dull, with lots of fiery explosions, perfunctory shoot-outs, and gory battles failing to generate any excitement.
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While there are meetings galore, the minutes, if any, are a perfunctory affair.
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Appropriate commentary then becomes an issue of finding the right kind of perfunctory praise, in some cases an emphasis on the "sensational copy" that occasionally accompanies this or that book.
Book Reviewing
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There was a perfunctory nod in my direction as they entered my compartment and then I was ostensibly ignored, reasonably enough.
Times, Sunday Times
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Lyric courtesy of Nobody can doubt the sincerity of his words, or his outrage at the murders, but the deep monotone he used rendered his word passionless and perfunctory.
Telegraph Blogs
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There weren't any kind of perfunctory congratulations at all, Heidi.
CNN Transcript Oct 9, 2009
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Their responses to the examiner or staff are perfunctory and vague, and they may appear to be in an excited delirium, which Kraepelin termed delirious mania.
The Neuropsychiatric Guide to Modern Everyday Psychiatry
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She'd boil a dozen eggs to use later for deviled eggs - hers were zingy with mayo, sharp mustard, bit of vinegar, the perfunctory paprika.
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Mothers dropped off their young sons for the first term with a perfunctory peck on the cheek.
Times, Sunday Times
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Leo's trademark vocals are in full force, traversing the usual valleys of gut-wrenching falsetto and perfunctory quavers in resplendent multi-tracked glory.
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A perfunctory love lost evolve into black and white color.
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Barefoot and bare-chested men wore the perfunctory long white pants with drawstrings, and women wore dresses and loose shirts.
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It seems likely that this interest was never more than passive or perfunctory.
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She gave the list only a perfunctory glance.
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I performed a perfunctory toilette and went in search of him.
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I found the Sanctus, though essentially vigorous, perfunctory in its lack of subtlety in emphasis and articulation.
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Anyone with even the most perfunctory interest in classical music will have their own favourite Mozart piece.
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The policy of making only a perfunctory effort or symbolic gesture toward the accomplishment of a goal, such as racial integration.
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This has resulted in a perfunctory clean-up of the area and a discussion on the lack of funds available to restore the park to an acceptable standard.
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I actually agree with Genoways that there are too many litmags publishing too much perfunctory work, but that these magazines have proliferated because the demand for postmodernism is so insistent seems to me patently absurd.
Writing and Publishing
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They only made a perfunctory effort.
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Gone was the perfunctory, toneless reading; he spoke slowly, ran the scale from a confidential whisper to a triumphant boom (for future reference, an aide in the audience noted where he talked too fast and where too slowly).
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There's a cover page with perfunctory artwork (there is no booklet, per se) and an inlay card with track listings and a few brief paragraphs of notes concerning the performance and the recordings.
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But its digital download efforts to date have been perfunctory and poorly promoted.
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A perfunctory glance at the painting without having any thought on the substance and the meaning of the work is of little use.
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And in this I was further encouraged by the fact that the attempt has not yet been made in English, excepting in a very perfunctory manner in Consul Wilkinson's work, published by Longmans in
Roumania Past and Present
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I get into bed without the usual armour of thick socks and pyjamas, he strokes my back in a perfunctory manner.
Times, Sunday Times
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She'd boil a dozen eggs to use later for deviled eggs - hers were zingy with mayo, sharp mustard, bit of vinegar, the perfunctory paprika.
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The room was perfunctory, with a bed and wardrobe, and behind a privacy screen lay a simple bathroom.
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A perfunctory love lost evolve into black and white color.
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That was why the requirements for the non-enterprise websites had been superficial and perfunctory.
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Mrs. West rushed through the second verse of the song, bowed breathlessly, and ran down the steps of the stage and back to the refuge of the balcony, while the audience applauded with perfunctory politeness and called clamorously to the musicians to "Let her go!
Cinderella And Other Stories
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They appeared to be tanks and jeeps, some trucks as well, but they were flimsy somehow, unbulky and perfunctory, showing squared-off contours and a cheap gleam—simulated tactical targets.
Underworld
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Usually this involves a few perfunctory sentences but yesterday he was feeling unusually garrulous and it took me a while to get away from him.
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Excuse us for a perfunctory midweek news roundup this week.
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Carol catches his wild eye with a perfunctory kiss or two and the promise, ‘I'm a hep kitten!’
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That wretched apology of a creature stripped from me my dirt-encrusted shirt that I had worn since my entrance to solitary, and exposed my poor wasted body, the skin ridged like brown parchment over the ribs and sore-infested from the many bouts with the jacket The examination was shamelessly perfunctory.
Chapter 10
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He fails in his duty if his investigation is superficial, slipshod or perfunctory.
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Sure, we cuddle our babies, and fondle our new lovers, but in every relationship there comes a point when kisses are perfunctory farewells and hugs are doled out sparingly.
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They are functional but somehow perfunctory, uncompelling.
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Sequences that could sing with tension and excitement are done in perfunctory fashion.
GreenCine Daily: DVDs, 11/15.
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This time the ever-bumbling Inspector Clouseau is on the ever-meandering trail of a thief who steals such priceless artifacts as the Magna Carta (nothing is made of that theft), the Shroud of Turin (Clouseau calls the pontiff Mr. Pope and detects that he's very spiritual) and the Pink Panther Diamond, whose re-disappearance -- it was stolen in the previous film too -- may have been required for the perfunctory script to fill 90 minutes.
'Into You' Is a Frayed Valentine
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It would be so much easier if I could believe the official story that a few hijackers with boxcutters and some perfunctory flight training on single-engined planes could have hijacked four large airliners, silenced the crews, turned off transponders, and then expertly guided two of them into the Twin Towers.
Why I still question 911
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The exams are practical, perfunctory and very often multiple choice.
Times, Sunday Times
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But her account of how these influences are reflected in the country 's cuisine feels somewhat perfunctory.
The Times Literary Supplement
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His inquiry was purely perfunctory because Annie and Sheila were in the middle of a full morning of house-cleaning.
A BODY SURROUNDED BY WATER
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It's hard to know what military personnel make of this phrase, which has become almost perfunctory through constant use.
Times, Sunday Times
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Was that rather perfunctory, or just the way we do things in the age of the smartphone?
Times, Sunday Times
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I created you concede the fact that I do not have to love again perfunctory explanation.
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In other news I’m still a bit sick, working my way through the Tennessee Hamthrax Aric gave me last week; so if posting is a bit light or perfunctory which is to say, a string of announcements or links for a few more days, I hope you’ll forgive me.
February 18, 2010
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We have sat through a showcase of set speeches by shadow ministers, but only perfunctory contributions have been allowed from the floor.
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Unfortunately, their consorts are interchangeable bits of crumpet fit only for the all-too-frequent rolls in the hay that come to seem perfunctory, even mechanical.
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The trio came to a polite halt as a stately brown rat lavishly assimilated went ambling across their path: given the power of speech, this rat would have grunted out a perfunctory buona sera.
'The Pregnant Widow'
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I found the Sanctus, though essentially vigorous, perfunctory in its lack of subtlety in emphasis and articulation.
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Thus encouraged, Mrs. Covil dropped into a chair, seeming not loath to tell those things she had, while Nancy leaned back and listened duteously for a perfunctory ten minutes.
The Seeker
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The filmmaker in Akkad might have found something similar in the husband-and-wife suicide-bomber team who killed him: Mrs. al-Shamari entering the Radisson, the camera's eye nervously darting around, shuffling through to the ballroom; the guests standing about, Muslims holding their wedding party in a semi-Westernized style, the ladies with bright glossed lips and coiffed hair bursting through their perfunctory head coverings.
Moustapha, Messenger of Hollywood
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On the contrary, he spoke in a lofty, casual manner, quite as if this perfunctory concession to the civilities were a matter of form, and was to be so regarded by Gwynne.
Viola Gwyn
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His comments on these developments were rather brief and perfunctory.
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After the most perfunctory of prefaces, he began to speak quickly, urgently.
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It's not difficult to identify the central problem with Duets: none of the relationships, which are developed in a perfunctory, paint-by-numbers fashion, are remotely credible.
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Between deals, a perfunctory shuffle is sufficient.
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The opportunity to be long-winded yet perfunctory, paradoxically daring yet formulaic, is available to only proven hit makers at the top of the heap.
March 2008
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Arliss's direction does often appear perfunctory, and his actors remembered him as a rather cold, distant figure.
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The spores do germinate, go through a few perfunctory cell divisions, then give up the ghost.
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I performed a few perfunctory twirls and made good my escape.
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Yet the romance is often perfunctory.
Times, Sunday Times
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I introduced myself, and at my name his perfunctory manner changed.
The Window at the White Cat
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Drill is over; the sharp eyes and sharper tongue of the major no longer criticise any faulty or "slouchy" wheel; the drill proper has been stiff and spirited, and now the necessary changes of direction are carried out in a purely perfunctory manner, while the battalion commander and his subaltern, troops and all, amble back and give their steeds a breathing spell.
Marion's Faith.
