defectible

[dih-fek-tuh-buhl]

adjective

1. liable to defect, decay, or failure.

Other Word Forms

• defectibility noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of defectible¹

First recorded in 1615–25; in- ³ ( def. ) + -ible ( def. ) + -ible ( def. )

Example Sentences

And, in like manner, a Mahometan may be so deeply convinced that Mahomet is the prophet of God, that it would be only by a quibble about the meaning of the word “certitude” that we could maintain, that, on his becoming a Catholic, he did not unequivocally prove that certitude is defectible.

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Therefore to some effects He has attached necessary causes, that cannot fail; but to others defectible and contingent causes, from which arise contingent effects.

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For God, the supremely good, is not the author of evils, but the rational and defectible will is the cause of sin; wherefore let no one impute his midsdeeds and crimes to God, but to himself, according to Jer.

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