adj
Meaning 1
Not perfect.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: defective, fallible, faultful, faulty
Antonyms: faultless, infallible, perfect
Standard Lemma guide
imperfect
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/ɪmˈpɜː(ɹ)fɪkt/
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/ɪmˈpɜː(ɹ)fɛkt/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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/ɪmpə(ɹ)ˈfɛkt/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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CMU ARPABET: IH2 M P ER1 F IH0 K T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Unisexual: having either male (with stamens) or female (with pistil) flowers, but not with both.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: biology, botany, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: perfect
adj
Meaning 3
Known or expected to be polyphyletic, as of a form taxon.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: biology, natural-sciences, taxonomy
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 4
Representing a continuing or repeated action.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: grammar, human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 5
Lacking some elementary organ that is essential to successful or normal activity.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
Something having a minor flaw.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 7
A tense of verbs used in describing a past action that is incomplete or continuous.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: grammar, human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: preterimperfect
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 8
to make imperfect
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
- 1651, John Donne, Letter to Henry Goodere, in Letters to Severall Persons of Honour, edited by Charles Edmund Merrill, Jr., New York: Sturgis & Walton, 1910, I write to you from the Spring Garden, whither I withdrew my self to think of this; and the intensenesse of my thinking ends in this, that by my help Gods work should be imperfected, if by any means I resisted the amasement.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective
Meaning 9
not perfect; defective or inadequate
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- had only an imperfect understanding of his responsibilities
- imperfect mortals
- drainage here is imperfect
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: perfect
adjective satellite
Meaning 10
wanting in moral strength, courage, or will; having the attributes of man as opposed to e.g. divine beings
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- I'm only a fallible human
- frail humanity
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: fallible, frail, weak
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 11
a tense of verbs used in describing action that is on-going
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: progressive, progressive tense, imperfect tense, continuous tense
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: tense
Narrower terms: present progressive, present progressive tense, past progressive, past progressive tense, future progressive, future progressive tense
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Italic *n̥- Latin im- Proto-Indo-European *per-der. Proto-Italic *peri- Latin per- Proto-Indo-European *dheh1- Proto-Indo-European *dheh1k- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *dhh1kyéti Proto-Italic *θakjō Proto-Italic *fakjō Latin faciō Latin perficiō Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Italic *-tus Latin -tus Latin perfectus Latin imperfectusder. Old French imparfitder. Middle English imperfit English imperfect From Middle English imperfit, from Old French imparfit (modern French imparfait), from Latin imperfectus. Spelling modified 15c. to conform Latin etymology. See im- + perfect.
Across languages
Translations
94 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Asturian: imperfeutu — not perfect
- Azerbaijani: qeyri-kamil — not perfect
- Bulgarian: незавършен (nezavǎršen) — not perfect
- Bulgarian: несъвършен (nesǎvǎršen) — not perfect
- Catalan: imperfecte — not perfect
- Czech: nedokonalý — not perfect
- Dutch: imperfect — not perfect
- Dutch: onvolmaakt — not perfect
- Finnish: vajavainen — not perfect
- Finnish: epätäydellinen — not perfect
- French: imparfait — not perfect
- Galician: imperfecto — not perfect
- German: unvollkommen — not perfect
- German: mangelhaft — not perfect
- German: unvollständig — not perfect
- German: fehlerhaft — not perfect
- Greek: ατελής (atelís) — not perfect
- Greek: ελλιπής (ellipís) — not perfect
- Greek: πλημμελής (plimmelís) — not perfect
- Greek: ελαττωματικός (elattomatikós) — not perfect
- Hebrew: לֹא מוּשְלָם (lo mushlám) — not perfect
- Hungarian: tökéletlen — not perfect
- Indonesian: tidak sempurna — not perfect
- Irish: anfhoirfe — not perfect
- Italian: imperfetto — not perfect
- Italian: imperfetta — not perfect
- Japanese: 不完全な (fukanzen na) — not perfect
- Khmer: ខ្ចោះ (kcɑh) — not perfect
- Latin: imperfectus — not perfect
- Māori: takarepa — not perfect
- Māori: nawe — not perfect
- Māori: kōkau — not perfect
- Māori: tōrōkiri — not perfect
- Old English: unfulfremed — not perfect
- Plautdietsch: onvollkomen — not perfect
- Polish: niedoskonały — not perfect
- Portuguese: imperfeito — not perfect
- Romanian: imperfect — not perfect
- Russian: несоверше́нный (nesoveršénnyj) — not perfect
- Spanish: imperfecto — not perfect
- Tagalog: balhag — not perfect
- Tagalog: dihimpit — not perfect
- Turkish: kusurlu — not perfect
- Turkish: noksan — not perfect
- Ottoman Turkish: اكسیك (eksik) — not perfect
- Ukrainian: недоскона́лий (nedoskonályj) — not perfect
- Albanian: E pakryer — (grammar) belonging to a tense of verbs used in describing a past action that is incomplete or continuous
- Esperanto: imperfekta — (grammar) belonging to a tense of verbs used in describing a past action that is incomplete or continuous
- French: imparfait — (grammar) belonging to a tense of verbs used in describing a past action that is incomplete or continuous
- Ancient Greek: παρατατικός (paratatikós) — (grammar) belonging to a tense of verbs used in describing a past action that is incomplete or continuous
- Hebrew: לֹא נִשְׁלָם (lo nishlám) — (grammar) belonging to a tense of verbs used in describing a past action that is incomplete or continuous
- Hungarian: folyamatos — (grammar) belonging to a tense of verbs used in describing a past action that is incomplete or continuous
- Hungarian: befejezetlen — (grammar) belonging to a tense of verbs used in describing a past action that is incomplete or continuous
- Italian: imperfetto — (grammar) belonging to a tense of verbs used in describing a past action that is incomplete or continuous
- Latin: imperfectus — (grammar) belonging to a tense of verbs used in describing a past action that is incomplete or continuous
- Serbo-Croatian: nesavršen — (grammar) belonging to a tense of verbs used in describing a past action that is incomplete or continuous
- Sicilian: mpirfettu — (grammar) belonging to a tense of verbs used in describing a past action that is incomplete or continuous
- Walloon: durant — (grammar) belonging to a tense of verbs used in describing a past action that is incomplete or continuous
- Finnish: sekunda — something having a minor flaw
- Greek: υποτυπώδης (ypotypódis) — something having a minor flaw
- Albanian: E pakryer — past tense
- Arabic: ناقص-غير كامل — past tense
- Armenian: անկատար (ankatar) — past tense
- Bulgarian: ми́нало несвърше́но вре́ме (mínalo nesvǎršéno vréme) — past tense
- Bulgarian: имперфе́кт (imperfékt) — past tense
- Bulgarian: и́мперфект (ímperfekt) — past tense
- Catalan: imperfet — past tense
- Dutch: onvoltooid verleden tijd — past tense
- Esperanto: imperfekto — past tense
- Finnish: imperfekti — past tense
- French: imparfait — past tense
- Galician: imperfecto — past tense
- German: Imperfekt — past tense
- German: Imperfektum — past tense
- Greek: παρατατικός (paratatikós) — past tense
- Ancient Greek: παρατατικός (paratatikós) — past tense
- Hebrew: עָבָר לֹא מֻגְמָר (‘avár lo mugmár) — past tense
- Hungarian: imperfektum — past tense
- Hungarian: folyamatos múlt — past tense
- Hungarian: elbeszélő múlt — past tense
- Italian: imperfetto — past tense
- Latin: tempus praeteritum imperfectum — past tense
- Latin: tempus imperfectum — past tense
- Latin: praeteritum imperfectum — past tense
- Latin: imperfectum — past tense
- Persian: ناقص (nâqes) — past tense
- Portuguese: imperfeito — past tense
- Romanian: imperfect — past tense
- Romansh: imperfect — past tense
- Russian: имперфе́кт (imperfékt) — past tense
- Russian: несоверше́нное вре́мя (nesoveršénnoje vrémja) — past tense
- Sicilian: mpirfettu — past tense
- Spanish: imperfecto — past tense
- Swedish: imperfekt — past tense
Real reading context