(of an action) done as a duty or habit, without real interest, attention, or feeling a perfunctory nod/smile They only made a perfunctory effort.
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NAmE//pərˈfʌŋktərəli//
adverb to nod/smile perfunctorily The guard glanced perfunctorily at her pass and let her through.See perfunctory in the Oxford Advanced Learner's DictionaryCheck pronunciation: perfunctory