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. Compare complete ( def 8 ), redundant ( def 7c ).
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. Compare complete ( def 7 ).

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

Derived Forms

• ˌincomˈpletely, adverb
• ˌincomˈpleteness, noun

Other Words From

• incom·pletely adverb
• incom·pleteness noun
• subin·com·plete 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 play was initially ruled a sack and a fumble but, upon review, it was changed to an incomplete pass.

From Los Angeles Times

"At this time, we are working with incomplete information and are urgently seeking more details," it said.

From BBC

But the Chiefs forced three straight incomplete passes — George Karlaftis and Justin Reid batted down two — to bring up fourth down.

From Los Angeles Times

Conventional approaches to storm forecasting involve large numerical simulations run on supercomputers incorporating mountains of observational data, and they still often result in inaccurate or incomplete predictions.

From Science Daily

It is thought at least 10,500 women were sent to the institutions, commonly known as mother-and-baby homes, in Northern Ireland but incomplete records mean the figure may be higher.

From BBC

Related Words

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