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imperfect.

Not perfect.

9 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ɪmˈpɜː(ɹ)fɪkt//ɪmˈpɜː(ɹ)fɛkt/

  1. Not perfect.

  2. Unisexual: having either male (with stamens) or female (with pistil) flowers, but not with both.

  3. Known or expected to be polyphyletic, as of a form taxon.

  4. Representing a continuing or repeated action.

  5. Lacking some elementary organ that is essential to successful or normal activity.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

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.

noun/ɪmˈpɜː(ɹ)fɪkt//ɪmˈpɜː(ɹ)fɛkt/

  1. Something having a minor flaw.

  2. A tense of verbs used in describing a past action that is incomplete or continuous.

Where this word comes from

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.

verb/ɪmpə(ɹ)ˈfɛkt/

  1. to make imperfect

    transitive
Where this word comes from

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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.