perfunctory

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“This constellation of foreign investment from China and from Gulf States, with complex and sometimes competing relationships with the United States, demands rigorous, not perfunctory review,” Booker and the others wrote.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026

Ms. Campbell, never the most beguiling actress, has appeared in every entry except “Scream VI” and gives another perfunctory performance.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026

As I visited congressional offices this week, meeting with sources and watching members of Congress interact with their constituents, it felt perfunctory — and, in some cases, sad.

From Salon • Feb. 13, 2026

Right there, you have the perfect shadow-docket sandwich: perfunctory, bad decisionmaking, conclusory predictions about what constitutes an “emergency” and who’s going to win, decided in a couple of days, wiping out extensive factual findings.

From Slate • Jan. 3, 2026

The gray-haired man asked her to hurry up, and she raised up on her right forearm just quickly enough so that the movement didn’t quite look perfunctory.

From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger