perfectible

[ per-fek-tuh-buh l ]

/ pərˈfɛk tə bəl /

adjective

capable of becoming or of being made perfect; improvable.

Nearby words

Origin of perfectible

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

Related forms

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

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

Examples from the Web for 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|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
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
You pretend man's perfectible, that woman's got a capacity for disinterested self-sacrifice.
Sonia Between two Worlds|Stephen McKenna

But as man is perfectible this condition of things cannot last.
The Radicalism of Shelley and Its Sources|Daniel J. MacDonald
The Mennonites believed that man was essentially depraved; Ballou believed that he was perfectible.
Introduction to Non-Violence|Theodore Paullin
Man is not a perfectible animal; not on this side of eternity.
Egoists|James Huneker

British Dictionary definitions for perfectible

perfectible

/ (pəˈfɛktəbəl) /

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