perfectionist
Americannoun
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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
-
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
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.
Perfectionist: I’ve got a kind of screwball suggestion: dance.
From Washington Post • Jul. 7, 2022
The best-selling author of “The Professor and the Madman” and many other nonfiction books will discuss his latest: “The Perfectionist: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World.”
From Seattle Times • Apr. 27, 2018
Perfectionist Rachael Larimore had a 4.0 high school GPA and a dozen varsity letters, but says, “I didn’t know then that ‘doing it all’ would mean missing out on so much.”
From Slate • Aug. 31, 2015
On Twitter, while Apple cultists wrote 140-character homages, nonbelievers passed along snipes about Steve the Tyrant, Steve the Evil Boss, Steve the Micromanaging Perfectionist.
From New York Times • Nov. 2, 2011
Then I was invited to dinner by a Perfectionist who did not belong to Noyse's Party.
From Secret Enemies of True Republicanism by Smolnikar, Andrew B.
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.
