perfectible

[ per-fek-tuh-buhl ]

/ pərˈfɛk tə bəl /

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adjective

capable of becoming or of being made perfect; improvable.

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Origin of perfectible

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

OTHER WORDS FROM perfectible

per·fect·i·bil·ist, nounper·fect·i·bil·i·ty, nounnon·per·fect·i·bil·i·ty, nounnon·per·fect·i·ble, adjective

self-per·fect·i·bil·i·ty, nounun·per·fect·i·ble, adjective

Words nearby perfectible

perfect flower, perfect fungus, perfect game, perfect gas, perfectibility of man, perfectible, perfecting press, perfection, perfectionism, perfectionist, perfective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use perfectible in a sentence

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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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
Man is not a perfectible animal; not on this side of eternity.
Egoists|James Huneker

Scientific truths are infinitely perfectible, but never absolute.
Six Major Prophets|Edwin Emery Slosson
He is perfectible, seeks after improvement, and shuns deterioration.
Harmonies of Political Economy|Frdric Bastiat
You pretend man's perfectible, that woman's got a capacity for disinterested self-sacrifice.
Sonia Between two Worlds|Stephen McKenna

British Dictionary definitions for perfectible

perfectible

/ (pəˈfɛktəbəl) /

adjective

capable of becoming or being made perfect

Derived forms of perfectible

perfectibility, 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