Effort vs Perfunctory - What's the difference?
effort | perfunctory |
The work involved in performing an activity; exertion.
* , chapter=23
, title= * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=June 22, author=Press Association, work=The Guardian
, title= * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=(Henry Petroski)
, title= An endeavour.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2012-03, author=William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter
, volume=100, issue=2, page=87, magazine=(American Scientist)
, title= A force acting on a body in the direction of its motion.
(uncommon) To make an effort.
(obsolete) To stimulate.
* Fuller
Done merely to discharge a duty; performed mechanically and as a thing of rote; done in a careless and superficial manner; characterized by indifference; as, perfunctory admonitions; aspiring only to minimum standards.
* 1918 , (Edgar Rice Burroughs), Chapter VIII
* 1992 , Peter Bowbrick, The Economics of Quality, Grades, and Brands ,
As a noun effort
is the work involved in performing an activity; exertion.As a verb effort
is (uncommon|intransitive) to make an effort.As an adjective perfunctory is
done merely to discharge a duty; performed mechanically and as a thing of rote; done in a careless and superficial manner; characterized by indifference; as, perfunctory admonitions; aspiring only to minimum standards.effort
English
Noun
(en noun)The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=The slightest effort made the patient cough. He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking.}}
Manchester United offer Park Ji-sung a new two-year contract, passage=The 30-year-old South Korean, who joined United in 2005, retired from international duty after last season's Asian Cup in an effort to prolong his club}}
Geothermal Energy, volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame.}}
The British Longitude Act Reconsidered, passage=But was it responsible governance to pass the Longitude Act without other efforts to protect British seamen? Or might it have been subterfuge—a disingenuous attempt to shift attention away from the realities of their life at sea.}}
- (Rankine)
Usage notes
* Adjectives often used with "effort": conscious, good, poor, etc.Synonyms
*Derived terms
* best efforts * centre of effort * effort distance * effortless * make an effortVerb
(en verb)- He efforted his spirits.
Statistics
* ----perfunctory
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- He did a perfunctory job cleaning his dad's car, finishing quickly but leaving a few spots still dirty.
- 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.
p. 55,
- Alternatively it may mean that a perfunctory search is enough to ensure that a purchase is acceptable, so less search is carried out.