different between perfunctory vs machinelike

English

Etymology

From Late Latin perfunct?rius, from the past participial stem of perfungor, perfunct- (“perform, carry through”), from per- + fungor.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /p??f??k.t(?)??/
• (US) IPA^(key): /p??f??k.t?.i/

Adjective

perfunctory (comparative more perfunctory, superlative most perfunctory)

1. Done only or merely to conform to a minimal standard or to fulfill a protocol or presumptive duty .

   Synonyms: automatic, cursory, obligatory, pro forma, token, unthinking

   • 1975, Saul Bellow, Humboldt's Gift [Avon ed., 1976, p. 338]:

     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.

   Synonyms: haphazard, mechanical, slipshod

   Antonyms: careful, complete, thorough

Related terms

• perfunctorily
• perfunctoriness

Translations

See also

• pro forma

English

Etymology

machine +? -like

Adjective

machinelike (comparative more machinelike, superlative most machinelike)

1. Resembling a machine; mechanical in form
   • 2015, Immanuel Wallerstein, Carlos Aguirre Rojas, Charles C. Lemert, Uncertain Worlds: World-systems Analysis in Changing Times

     The latter, for example, are overheard dismissing the former as mere “quantoids”—as if quantitative methods turn those who deploy them into machinelike expellers of numeric waste.

Synonyms

• mechanical

Translations