Imperfect Meaning
/ɪmˈpɜː(ɹ)fɪkt/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjNot perfect,
adjUnisexual: having either male (with stamens) or female (with pistil) flowers, but not with both.
Sentence Examples
Partly because he could not receive enough information, Harper's description remains imperfect.
We are all imperfect. We cannot expect perfect government.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The antique vase was ____ because it had a small crack near the rim.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She accepted the antique vase, even though it had a few small and ____ chips on its base.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English imperfit, from Old French imparfit (modern French imparfait), from Latin imperfectus. Spelling modified 15c. to conform Latin etymology. See im- + perfect.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Why, then, your other senses grow imperfect."
— c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vi]:
"Nothing imperfet or deficient left
Of all that he Created."
— 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
"Then say not man's imperfect, Heaven in fault; / Say rather, man's as perfect as he ought."
— 1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify |epistle=I to IV), London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC:
"When the prophet Joel was describing the formidable accidents in the day of the Lord's judgment, and the fearful sentence of an angry Judge, he was not able to express it, but stammered like a child, or an amazed, imperfect person."
— 1653, “Twenty-five Sermons Preached at Golden Grove; Being for the Winter Half-year, […]: Sermon III. [Doomsday Book; or, Christ’s Advent to Judgment.] Part III.”, in Reginald Heber, editor, The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D. […], volume V, London: Ogle, Duncan, and Co. […]; and Richard Priestley, […], published 1822, →OCLC, page 35:
"Time, which perfects some things, imperfects also others."
— 1716, Thomas Browne, edited by Samuel Johnson, Christian Morals, 2nd edition, London: J. Payne, published 1756, Part I, p. 43:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The antique vase was ____ because it had a small crack near the rim.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She accepted the antique vase, even though it had a few small and ____ chips on its base.