imperfect

[ im-pur-fikt ]
See synonyms for: imperfectimperfectly on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. relating to or characterized by defects or weaknesses: With my imperfect vision I couldn’t make out the street name.

  2. not perfect; lacking completeness: Human knowledge on all subjects is imperfect.

  1. Grammar. designating a verb aspect, tense, or other verb category used to express an action or state still in process at some point of reference in time, especially in the past.

  2. Law. being without legal effect or support; unenforceable.

  3. Botany. (of a flower) diclinous.

  4. Music. of or relating to the interval of a major or minor third or sixth.: Compare perfect (def. 11a).

nounGrammar.
    • in some languages, a verb aspect, tense, or other verb category used to express an action or state still in process at some point of reference in time, especially in the past.

    • an instance or form of a specific verb in such an aspect, tense, or construction, such as Latin portābam “I was carrying.”

Origin of imperfect

1
First recorded in 1300–50; from Latin imperfectus “unfinished”; equivalent to im-2 + perfect; replacing Middle English imparfit, from Middle French imparfait, from Latin, as above

Other words for imperfect

Opposites for imperfect

Other words from imperfect

  • im·per·fect·ly, adverb
  • im·per·fect·ness, noun

Words Nearby imperfect

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use imperfect in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for imperfect

imperfect

/ (ɪmˈpɜːfɪkt) /


adjective
  1. exhibiting or characterized by faults, mistakes, etc; defective

  2. not complete or finished; deficient

  1. botany

    • (of flowers) lacking functional stamens or pistils

    • (of fungi) not undergoing sexual reproduction

  2. grammar denoting a tense of verbs used most commonly in describing continuous or repeated past actions or events, as for example was walking as opposed to walked

  3. law (of a trust, an obligation, etc) lacking some necessary formality to make effective or binding; incomplete; legally unenforceable: See also executory (def. 1)

  4. music

    • (of a cadence) proceeding to the dominant from the tonic, subdominant, or any chord other than the dominant

    • of or relating to all intervals other than the fourth, fifth, and octave: Compare perfect (def. 9)

noun
  1. grammar

    • the imperfect tense

    • a verb in this tense

Derived forms of imperfect

  • imperfectly, adverb
  • imperfectness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012