Adjective

(en adjective)

(Christianity) Bound by religious rule; belonging to a monastic or religious order (often as opposed to (secular)).

* 2002 , , The Great Nation , Penguin 2003, page 201:

A quarter of a million strong in 1680, the clergy was only half as large in 1789. The unpopular regular clergy were the worst affected.

Having a constant pattern; showing evenness of form or appearance.

(geometry, of a polygon) Having all sides of the same length, and all (corresponding) angles of the same size

(geometry, of a polyhedron) Whose faces are all congruent regular polygons, equally inclined to each other.

Demonstrating a consistent set of rules; showing order, evenness of operation or occurrence.

* 2011 , (AL Kennedy), The Guardian , 12 Apr 2011:

April may be the cruellest month, but I am planning to render it civilised and to take my antibiotics in a regular manner.

(now, rare) Well-behaved, orderly; restrained (of a lifestyle etc.).

Happening at constant (especially short) intervals.

(chiefly, US) Having the expected characteristics or appearances; normal, ordinary, standard.

*

, title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=For a spell we done pretty well. Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand.}}

(chiefly, military) Permanently organised; being part of a set professional body of troops.

Having bowel movements or menstrual periods at constant intervals in the expected way.

(colloquial) Exemplary; excellent example of; utter, downright.

Belonging to a monastic order or community.

regular clergy, in distinction from the secular clergy

(botany, zoology) Having all the parts of the same kind alike in size and shape.

a regular''' flower; a '''regular sea urchin

(crystallography) isometric

(snowboarding) Riding with the left foot forward. BBC Sport, "Sochi 2014: A jargon-busting guide to the halfpipe", 11 February 2014

(analysis, not comparable, of a Borel measure) Such that every set in its domain is both outer regular and inner regular.

Adjective

(en adjective)

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.

He did a perfunctory job cleaning his dad's car, finishing quickly but leaving a few spots still dirty.

* 1918 , (Edgar Rice Burroughs), Chapter VIII

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.

* 1992 , Peter Bowbrick, The Economics of Quality, Grades, and Brands , 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.