The difference between Mechanical and Perfunctory

When used as adjectives, mechanical means characteristic of someone who does manual labour for a living, whereas perfunctory means done only to fulfil a duty, or in a careless or indifferent manner.

Mechanical is also noun with the meaning: manually created layout of artwork that is camera ready for photographic reproduction.

check bellow for the other definitions of Mechanical and Perfunctory

  1. Mechanical as an adjective (now, _, rare):

    Characteristic of someone who does manual labour for a living; coarse, vulgar.

  2. Mechanical as an adjective:

    Related to mechanics .

    Examples:

    "'mechanical engineering"

  3. Mechanical as an adjective:

    Related to mechanics .

    Examples:

    "'mechanical dictionary"

  4. Mechanical as an adjective:

    Done by machine.

    Examples:

    "'mechanical task"

  5. Mechanical as an adjective:

    Using mechanics : being a machine.

    Examples:

    "'mechanical arm"

  6. Mechanical as an adjective:

    As if performed by a machine: lifeless or mindless.

    Examples:

    "a mechanical reply to a question"

  7. Mechanical as an adjective (of a person):

    Acting as if one were a machine: lifeless or mindless.

    Examples:

    "The pianist was too mechanical."

  8. Mechanical as an adjective (informal):

    Handy with machines.

    Examples:

    "Why don't you ask Joe to fix it? He's very mechanical."

  1. Mechanical as a noun (advertising):

    Manually created layout of artwork that is camera ready for photographic reproduction.

  2. Mechanical as a noun:

    One who does manual labor, especially one who is similar to Shakespeare's rude mechanicals

  3. Mechanical as a noun (science fiction):

    A robot or mechanical creature.

  4. Mechanical as a noun (engineering):

    A mechanical engineer.

  5. Mechanical as a noun (bicycling):

    An instance of equipment failure.

  6. Mechanical as a noun (music):

    A stop on an organ that is operated by a hand or foot control rather than having to be manually set up in advance.

  7. Mechanical as a noun (archaic):

    A machine that performs a job typically accomplished using an animal or manual labor.

  1. Perfunctory as an adjective:

    Done only to fulfil a duty, or in a careless or indifferent manner; performed mechanically and as a thing of rote.

    Examples:

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

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