incomplete

American  

[in-kuhm-pleet] / ˌɪn kəmˈplit /

adjective

1. not complete; lacking some part.

   Synonyms:

   fragmentary, partial, unfinished

2. Football. (of a forward pass) not completed; not caught by a receiver.

3. Engineering. noting a truss the panel points of which are not entirely connected so as to form a system of triangles.

4. Logic, Philosophy.

   1. (of an expression or symbol) meaningful only in a specific context.

   2. (of a set of axioms) such that there is at least one true proposition (able to be formulated in terms of the basic ideas of a given system) that is not deducible from the set.

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noun

1. Education. a temporary grade indicating that a student has not fulfilled one or more of the essential requirements for a course.

   If I don't hand in my term paper for last semester's English course, the professor is going to change my incomplete to an F.

incomplete British  

/ ˌɪnkəmˈpliːt /

adjective

1. not complete or finished

2. not completely developed; imperfect

3. logic

   1. (of a formal theory) not so constructed that the addition of a non-theorem to the axioms renders it inconsistent

   2. (of an expression) not having a reference of its own but requiring completion by another expression

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Other Word Forms

• incompletely adverb
• incompleteness noun
• subincomplete adjective

Etymology

Origin of incomplete

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Late Latin word incomplētus. See in- ³, complete

Example Sentences

Earlier attempts to confirm this kind of behavior were often undermined by technical noise and incomplete data.

From Science Daily

That’s when he rolled out to his right and threw an incomplete pass before getting tackled from behind.

From The Wall Street Journal

“These advances are still incomplete and must be finalized and then implemented in an operational, robust, and effective manner in order to deliver and fully assess their full effects,” the government’s statement said.

From The Wall Street Journal

However, the building is still incomplete, with gaps where windows should be, and the leaseholders are concerned the pigeons will return.

From BBC

But there is an incomplete and misleading public record of the Skipper's movements.

From BBC

Related Words

• deficient
• fragmentary
• inadequate
• insufficient
• lacking
• partial
• sketchy