incomplete

[in-kuhm-pleet]

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.

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

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• incompletely adverb
• incompleteness noun
• subincomplete adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of incomplete¹

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

Example Sentences

The Justice Department hasn’t disclosed its redaction process and is likely working from an incomplete list of victims, according to the letter.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The next employment report, for October, will be incomplete.

Read more on MarketWatch

Especially poignant is her discussion of West Germany’s incomplete attempts at legal accountability.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The conflict between the LAFD’s statements and its own records is likely to intensify frustration and anger among Palisades fire victims over contradictory and incomplete information about what was done to protect their community.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“Music,” Mr. Williams believes, “is an essential nutrient. Without it, we are incomplete.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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