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• Practice makes perfect
  Practice makes perfect

  Doing something over and over makes one better at it.
• practice makes perfect
  practice makes perfect

  Frequently doing something makes one better at doing it, as in I've knit at least a hundred sweaters, but in my case practice hasn't made perfect. This proverbial expression was once put as Use makes mastery, but by 1560 the present form had become established.

Practice makes perfect

Cultural  

1. Doing something over and over makes one better at it.

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practice makes perfect Idioms  

1. Frequently doing something makes one better at doing it, as in I've knit at least a hundred sweaters, but in my case practice hasn't made perfect. This proverbial expression was once put as Use makes mastery, but by 1560 the present form had become established.

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Example Sentences

Vince Lombardi established the importance of this when he observed practice doesn’t make perfect, only perfect practice makes perfect.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026

Call it chemistry, call it instinct, or maybe practice makes perfect.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 14, 2024

“They teach our kids innumerable lessons: practice makes perfect, small differences can have large effects, collaboration leads to creativity.”

From Seattle Times • May 10, 2023

With it comes a perception that an athlete cannot be too dedicated in their pursuit of glory, that practice makes perfect.

From BBC • Dec. 15, 2021

If practice makes perfect, Elizebeth was approaching perfection.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield