Perfunctory means done as a matter of routine with no real care. A perfunctory nod, a perfunctory inspection, perfunctory applause.
It is a criticism of the doing rather than the result, since a perfunctory check may still find nothing wrong and prove nothing. The Latin means merely getting through a task.
1adjectiveperfunctoryDone as a matter of routine with no real care.
“He gave a perfunctory nod and went back to reading his newspaper.”
perfunctory is a quality.
Latin perfunctorius means careless, from perfungi, to get through a duty.
Proto-Indo-European
*bʰewg-
Latin
perfunctōrius — careless, negligent
English, today
perfunctory
From Latin perfunctōrius (“careless, negligent”), from the past participial stem of perfungor, perfunct- (“perform, carry through”), from per- + fungor.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA