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.

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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

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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

Nearly 3.5 million pages were released in January, many riddled with haphazard or incomplete redactions.

From The Wall Street Journal

X on Friday denounced what it called the EU's "incomplete and superficial investigation".

From Barron's

In most cases, the problem was that the submitted data were incomplete and in about 26% the problem was that the applicant didn’t follow FDA advice, including advice about the design of their clinical trials.

From Los Angeles Times

Overall, the report said there was “incomplete data” and “major gaps in transparency” over financial matters.

From Los Angeles Times

“The popular narrative about Johnson and Bird resuscitating a faltering league is incomplete” without mention of the American Basketball Association “and two of its signature players,” writes Mr. Epplin.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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