- 1敷衍的、應付了事的、走過場的
A perfunctory action is done in a , careless way, only because someone is supposed to do it. The key is that it was done — the box is ticked — but with no real thought or feeling behind it. A perfunctory apology, a perfunctory nod, a perfunctory search of your bag, a perfunctory round of applause that stops after four seconds, a perfunctory email reply of two words. It nearly always goes in front of a noun that names an action or a gesture, and it nearly always comes with quiet : the speaker noticed the emptiness. This is exactly the idea of 敷衍 — going through the motions to satisfy someone. Two useful distinctions. It is not 'careless' in the sense of 'made mistakes'; the person may do it perfectly and still be perfunctory, because the fault is in the attention, not the result. And it is not 'brief' — a short warm apology is not perfunctory, while a long empty one can be. The word is formal and written, common in reviews, reports, and journalism.
組成From Late Latin perfunctōrius 'careless, done just to get it over with', built on perfungī 'to discharge a duty, get through' — per- 'through' + fungī 'to perform'. So the picture inside the word is a person pushing through a task to reach the end of it.
同家族的字
- functionsame Latin fungī 'to perform a role or job'
- defunctde- + fungī — 'done performing', dead or no longer operating
- functionalsame fungī root
原始詞典資料2 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
perfunctoryadj/pəˈfʌŋk.t(ə)ɹɪ/
- 1
Done only or merely to conform to a minimal standard or to fulfill a protocol or presumptive duty.
- I caught the gist of what he was saying--which in effect was that he had found and captured this Galu, that she was his and that he defied anyone to question his right of possession. It appeared to me, as I afterward learned was the fact, that I was witnessing the most primitive of marriage ceremonies. The assembled members of the tribe looked on and listened in a sort of dull and perfunctory apathy, for the speaker was by far the mightiest of the clan.
- He then poured some wine for me to taste, and harassed me with perfunctory courtesies that had to be acknowledged.
- 2
Performed in a careless or indifferent manner as a thing of rote.
- He did a perfunctory job cleaning his dad's car, finishing quickly but leaving a few spots still dirty.
- Alternatively it may mean that a perfunctory search is enough to ensure that a purchase is acceptable, so less search is carried out.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。