perfectible

[per-fek-tuh-buh l]

adjective

capable of becoming or of being made perfect; improvable.

Origin of perfectible

1625–35; < French < Medieval Latin perfectibilis. See perfect, -ible

Related formsper·fect·i·bil·ist, nounper·fect·i·bil·i·ty, nounnon·per·fect·i·bil·i·ty, nounnon·per·fect·i·ble, adjectiveself-per·fect·i·bil·i·ty, nounun·per·fect·i·ble, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for perfectible

Contemporary Examples of perfectible

We in our land of optimists like to believe our species is perfectible.
In Syria, Europe & Boston, the Past Is Never Finished
Kati Marton
May 11, 2013
Neither markets nor government are perfectible; the best we're going to get is ones that work pretty well most of the time.
Chasing the Tails
Megan McArdle
November 8, 2012

Historical Examples of perfectible

Man is not a perfectible animal; not on this side of eternity.
Egoists
James Huneker
He is perfectible, seeks after improvement, and shuns deterioration.
Harmonies of Political Economy
Frdric Bastiat
But as man is perfectible this condition of things cannot last.
The Radicalism of Shelley and Its Sources
Daniel J. MacDonald
Hence he is perfectible through nature, and merely conforms to nature in improving his mind and in bettering his condition.
The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 1 (of 6)
Hippolyte A. Taine
But this work is perfectible and it contains in its constitution even the principles of its perfectibility.
Social Comptabilism, Cheque and Clearing Service & Proposed Law
Ernest Solvay

British Dictionary definitions for perfectible

perfectible

adjective

capable of becoming or being made perfect

Derived Formsperfectibility, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012