go through the motions

verb

Definitions

  1. To do something in a mechanical, unreflective manner, especially as a matter of routine…

    To do something in a mechanical, unreflective manner, especially as a matter of routine and without commitment or enthusiasm; to perform a task perfunctorily.

    • Aleck was a Christian from the cradle, and duty and the force of habit required her to go through the motions.
    • They went through the motions of living, but they didn't live.
    • In screening an adviser, these should be your goals: —To determine whether he or she cares about helping clients or just goes through the motions […]

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for go through the motions. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA