go through the motions
Act without commitment
To go through the motions is to do something mechanically, without genuine effort or enthusiasm—performing the expected actions while emotionally disengaged.
The phrase suggests routine compliance rather than real commitment: After the divorce, he just went through the motions at work.
It often implies that the heart has gone out of something that once mattered.
- pretendAct as though
- make believeImaginative fantasy play
- autopilotAutomated vehicle guidance system
- on autopilotActing without active awareness
- perfunctoryDone with minimal effort
feign · fake · phone it in · unenthusiastic · disengaged · halfhearted · facade · superficiality · mechanical · muscle memory · apathy · burnout · rote · disconnection · dead inside · detachment · indifferent · insincere
go through the motionsgive 110%
Exceed maximum capacity
go above and beyond · strive · hustle · go the extra mile · leave it all on the field
through, thorough, thoroughly, thoroughness, motion, motions, motive, motivation, motionless