perfectionist
Americannoun
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perfectionists
plural
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a person who adheres to or believes in perfectionism.
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a person who demands perfection of himself, herself, or others.
adjective
noun
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a person who strives for or demands the highest standards of excellence in work, etc
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a person who believes the doctrine of perfectionism
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of perfectionist
First recorded in 1650–60; perfection + -ist
Explanation
A perfectionist is someone with very high standards: they want everything to be just right at all times. You know how perfect things are flawless? A perfectionist wants things to be like that all the time. A writer who is a perfectionist will revise over and over again, trying to get every word just right. A perfectionist boss will be hard on employees who aren't as careful or hard-working. Perfectionists tend to do very good work because of their high standards.
Vocabulary lists containing perfectionist
Barbara Bush (1925 - 2018) Tribute List
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One Crazy Summer
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
She’s a perfectionist at heart, something I remember with a sigh when I help her hang a picture or center a vase of flowers on her table.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
A 4-2 defeat to Real Sociedad on Tuesday will irritate their perfectionist head coach, but there is plenty of time for him to fine-tune the Europa League holders before the start of the new campaign.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Are these three subtitle terms — codependent, perfectionist, people-pleasing — interchangeable or interlinked?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026
The Hungarian photographer thought his American peers were overly perfectionist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
Shy about her talent, and a perfectionist about conditions, Janine never did.
From "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom
There'd been rumours she'd release it in time for her Glastonbury slot on Saturday night, but perfectionists have got to perfect.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2025
That intrinsic level of care is present in “Hard Truths,” but without the fussiness that often feels present in films made by notorious perfectionists.
From Salon ● Jan. 10, 2025
Clerks are type-A perfectionists, and all they want to do is do the job and do it right.
From Slate ● Jun. 6, 2024
But Palumbo, one of opera’s most mild-mannered yet most unrelenting perfectionists, was still making sure that the singers’ intonation was flawless, still fine-tuning the placement of the first note in a certain phrase.
From New York Times ● May 21, 2024
“And it’s a temptation for any intelligent person, and especially for perfectionists such as the ancients and ourselves, to try to murder the primitive, emotive, appetitive self. But that is a mistake.”
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
