imperfect

adjective
UK: /ɪmˈpɜːfɪkt/
US: /ɪmˈpɜːrfɪkt/

  1. Not perfect; having flaws or mistakes.

    1. My first cake was imperfect, but tasty.
    2. The painting was beautiful despite some imperfect brushstrokes visible upon close inspection.

  2. In grammar, referring to a tense that describes a past action which was ongoing or repeated.

    1. The teacher explained the imperfect tense to the class.
    2. He was studying the imperfect subjunctive in Spanish, which he found particularly tricky.

Synonyms

flawed faulty defective incomplete
imperfect noun

  1. A thing that is not perfect or has flaws.

    1. This vase is an imperfect, but I like it.
    2. The artist viewed his early works as imperfects, experiments on the road to mastery.

Frequently Asked Questions

The word "imperfect" in English means: Not perfect; having flaws or mistakes., In grammar, referring to a tense that describes a past action which was ongoing or repeated..

The phonetic transcription of "imperfect" is /ɪmˈpɜːfɪkt/ in British English and /ɪmˈpɜːrfɪkt/ in American English. Click the 🔊 button to hear both pronunciations.

Synonyms for "imperfect": flawed, faulty, defective, incomplete.

Example usage of "imperfect": "My first cake was imperfect, but tasty.". More examples on the page.