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.

---

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

---

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

MSF said Israel considers the charity's registration application to be incomplete.

From Barron's

Williams just failed with yet another late comeback as the final throw into the end zone went incomplete.

From BBC

Yet some that can’t clear customs because of missing or incomplete information are returned—or destroyed.

From The Wall Street Journal

If it's been opened or is part of an incomplete set, it's a clear giveaway the item isn't new.

From BBC

The Justice Department has come under fire from lawmakers for Friday’s release, which was incomplete and heavily redacted.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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