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Imperfect   /ɪmpˈərfɪkt/   Listen
adjective
Imperfect  adj.  
1.
Not perfect; not complete in all its parts; wanting a part; deective; deficient. "Something he left imperfect in the state." "Why, then, your other senses grow imperfect."
2.
Wanting in some elementary organ that is essential to successful or normal activity. "He... stammered like a child, or an amazed, imperfect person."
3.
Not fulfilling its design; not realizing an ideal; not conformed to a standard or rule; not satisfying the taste or conscience; esthetically or morally defective. "Nothing imperfect or deficient left Of all that he created." "Then say not man's imperfect, Heaven in fault; Say rather, man's as perfect as he ought."
Imperfect arch, an arch of less than a semicircle; a skew arch.
Imperfect cadence (Mus.), one not ending with the tonic, but with the dominant or some other chord; one not giving complete rest; a half close.
Imperfect consonances (Mus.), chords like the third and sixth, whose ratios are less simple than those of the fifth and forth.
Imperfect flower (Bot.), a flower wanting either stamens or pistils.
Imperfect interval (Mus.), one a semitone less than perfect; as, an imperfect fifth.
Imperfect number (Math.), a number either greater or less than the sum of its several divisors; in the former case, it is called also a defective number; in the latter, an abundant number.
Imperfect obligations (Law), obligations as of charity or gratitude, which cannot be enforced by law.
Imperfect power (Math.), a number which can not be produced by taking any whole number or vulgar fraction, as a factor, the number of times indicated by the power; thus, 9 is a perfect square, but an imperfect cube.
Imperfect tense (Gram.), a tense expressing past time and incomplete action.



noun
Imperfect  n.  (Gram.) The imperfect tense; or the form of a verb denoting the imperfect tense.



verb
Imperfect  v. t.  To make imperfect. (Obs.)






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Imperfect" Quotes from Famous Books



... place. Prometheus, admiring so strong a resemblance, wished the merit to appear to belong to his own skill, {and} therefore placed the two images together in the furnace. When they were thoroughly baked, and life had been breathed into them, hallowed Truth moved on with modest gait; but her imperfect copy remained fixed on the spot. Thence the spurious image, the result of the stealthy work, was called Mendacity,[4] because they say, she has no feet,—an assertion ...
— The Fables of Phdrus - Literally translated into English prose with notes • Phaedrus

... tenderhearted, humbleminded." The nature of the brotherly love we owe our neighbors is illustrated in the love of an affectionate mother for her child. Such love Christ has shown, and still shows, toward us. He sustains us, frail, corrupt, sinful beings that we are. So imperfect are we, we seem not Christians at all. But the love of Christ makes us his, regardless ...
— Epistle Sermons, Vol. II - Epiphany, Easter and Pentecost • Martin Luther

... by any sale of its valuable woods. The whole was tied up for the benefit of this child, who, in occasional visits with his father and mother at Norland, had so far gained on the affections of his uncle, by such attractions as are by no means unusual in children of two or three years old; an imperfect articulation, an earnest desire of having his own way, many cunning tricks, and a great deal of noise, as to outweigh all the value of all the attention which, for years, he had received from his niece and her daughters. He meant not to be unkind, however, and, as a mark of ...
— Persuasion • Jane Austen

... strong to reprove sin. And it must sometimes be his duty to speak severely to those, especially the good, who are turning their faces the wrong way. It is of little use to reprove the sinner, but it is worth while sometimes to reprove those who have a regard for righteousness, however imperfect they may be. "Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee; rebuke a wise man, ...
— Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood • George MacDonald

... reduced the hitherto complex mechanism of writing to so simple a system that the inventor must have regarded it with sheer delight. On the other hand, the conservative scholar doubtless thought it distinctly ambiguous. In truth, it must be admitted that the system was imperfect. It was a vast improvement on the old syllabary, but it had its drawbacks. Perhaps it had been made a bit too simple; certainly it should have had symbols for the vowel sounds as well as for the consonants. ...
— A History of Science, Volume 1(of 5) • Henry Smith Williams


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