Word of the Day

: July 7, 2026

perfunctory

play

adjective per-FUNK-tuh-ree

Prev Next

What It Means

Perfunctory is a formal word used to describe something that is done without energy or enthusiasm because of habit or because it is expected.

// By the time my favorite band got to the last stop of the tour, their performance felt perfunctory.

See the entry >

perfunctory in Context

“Even a perfunctory ending can’t take away from the film’s fiery commitment to bearing witness to misogyny’s bitter fruit. Harris’ vision as a first-time filmmaker is crystal clear, and Is God Is already feels timeless, like a parable that could have been written decades ago, and will be handily passed down as pointed social critique for decades to come.” — Aisha Harris, NPR, 15 May 2026

Did You Know?

A perfunctory explanation of the origins of perfunctory would be this: it comes from Latin. But given our passion for language, we can’t resist giving you all the details. Borrowed in the late 16th century, the word is specifically from the Late Latin perfunctorius, meaning “done in a careless or superficial manner.” Perfunctorius traces back to a form of perfungi (“to accomplish, perform, get through with”) and ultimately comes from two Latin sources, per-, meaning “through,” and fungi, meaning “to perform.” Fungi is also a source of such words as function, defunct, and fungible, but not fungus; that word is also from Latin, but it is most likely a modification of the Greek word spongos, meaning “sponge.”