imperfection

C2+ Topic:Law & Government

US /ˌɪmpɚˈfɛkʃən/ UK /ˌɪmpəˈfɛkʃən/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a flaw or fault; the state of being incomplete or defective

A tiny imperfection in the diamond lowered its value.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a flaw or fault; the state... flaw fault defect blemish deficiency shortcoming

Opposites

perfectionflawlessness

Word family

Related forms imperfect perfect perfection

Etymology

From Old French imperfeccion, from Late Latin imperfectio, from imperfectus ('unfinished'), from in- ('not') + perfectus ('completed').

imperfectio Latin perficere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Law & Government Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# imperfection

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˌɪmpɚˈfɛkʃən/
**IPA (UK):** /ˌɪmpəˈfɛkʃən/

## Meanings
1. a flaw or fault; the state of being incomplete or defective

## Examples
- A tiny imperfection in the diamond lowered its value.

## Synonyms
- flaw
- fault
- defect
- blemish
- deficiency
- shortcoming

## Antonyms
- perfection
- flawlessness

## Related Forms
- imperfect
- perfect
- perfection

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: imperfectio
- Root: perficere

## Etymology
From Old French imperfeccion, from Late Latin imperfectio, from imperfectus ('unfinished'), from in- ('not') + perfectus ('completed').

## AI Etymology
imperfection comes from Old French imperfeccion, from Late Latin imperfectio, from imperfectus ('unfinished'), from in- ('not') + perfectus ('completed'). Morphologically, the prefixed shape matters: the initial element belongs to the recorded formation and helps explain the modern form's surface analysis. In present English, the noun sense is "a flaw or fault; the state of being incomplete or defective", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as imperfect, perfect, and perfection. Its semantic neighborhood includes flaw, fault, defect, and blemish, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Latin imperfectio and Latin perficere.

## Topics
- Law & Government
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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