Work or perform in a perfunctory or unenthusiastic manner.
‘Because Bill Barol and his beloved Blather Blog has returned after a months-long hiatus, including a few weeks there when he was obviously just sort of phoning it in, not that we don't all do that on occasion, of course.’
‘In fact, I think Jumbah is totally phoning it in.’
‘Well, I guess I'd be phoning it in too if I knew that after my scene wrapped I could go back to partying on my yacht with my movie star friends on Lake Como.’
‘Comfort can easily lead to complacency, and for a band rooted in punk's Riot Grrrl movement, there's no greater sin than phoning it in.’
‘Yeah, it's August, but someone's really phoning it in at the Guardian.’
‘On this collection Sarah Vaughan sounds like she's phoning it in - you can almost hear her yawning.’
‘I talked to a newsperson who said the U.S. military is just phoning it in.’
‘Other people see talent and virtuosity; I see a narcissist who's phoning it in.’
‘Bronson simply phones it in and collects his check, though probably having his wife Jill Ireland as co-producer was a nice inducement.’
‘Renée Zellweger's mannered neuroticism is becoming increasingly annoying and Catherine Zeta-Jones phones it in.’
‘Sure, the official first game of the season took place, but so did four preseason games and another contest where the Rangers phoned it in against their Oklahoma City affiliate.’
‘Jesse Ventura is brought up, but Dave says towards the end he phoned it in.’
‘He seems content to just phone it in, and why shouldn't he?’
‘Dangers never succumbs to the temptation to phone it in, and he never relegates himself to simply giving in and playing generic pop music.’
‘Without a muse-cum-taskmaster Timbaland is tempted to phone it in, as he does on Under Construction II, a sequel not worthy of the name.’
‘The theater district's Chimichurri Grill offers an Argentine menu that doesn't just phone it in.’
‘Anthony Edwards and Gary Sinise both phone it in, and Dominic West has little trouble playing the drunk.’
‘So as they say in showbiz speech, he's phoning it in tonight.’
‘I can question his choice of material (as I often do), but I certainly can't complain that he's phoning it in.’
‘The band still makes some great songs; when the group misses, it's by trying to do too much, not by phoning it in Stones-like.’
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