im·per·fect

(ĭm-pûr′fĭkt)

adj.

1. Not perfect.

2. Grammar Of or being the tense of a verb that shows, usually in the past, an action or a condition as incomplete, continuous, or coincident with another action.

3. Botany Having either stamens or a pistil only. Used of a flower.

4. Not reproducing sexually. Used of fungi.

5. Law Potentially unenforceable; limited or defective: an imperfect right of self defense.

1. A piece of merchandise having a minor flaw that does not impair its use, usually sold at a discount.

2. Grammar

a. The imperfect tense.

b. A verb in the imperfect tense.

[Middle English imparfit, from Old French imparfait, from Latin imperfectus : in-, not; see in-¹ + perfectus, perfect; see perfect.]

im·per′fect·ly adv.

im·per′fect·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adv.

imperfectly - in an imperfect or faulty way; "The lobe was imperfectly developed"; "Miss Bennet would not play at all amiss if she practiced more"- Jane Austen

amiss

perfectly - in a perfect or faultless way; "She performed perfectly on the balance beam"; "spoke English perfectly"; "solved the problem perfectly"

Translations

بِصورَة غَير تامَّه

nedokonale

fejlbehæftetmangelfuldt

unvollkommen

imparfaitement

tökéletlenül

ekki til fullnustu

imperfettamente

ufullkomment

nedokonale

eksik/noksan bir şekilde

有缺陷地

imperfectly

[ɪmˈpɜːfɪktlɪ] ADV [design, create] → de manera defectuosa
this process is still imperfectly understood by scientists → los científicos aún no entienden completamente este proceso, los científicos tienen aún un conocimiento limitado de este proceso
she spoke English, though imperfectly → hablaba inglés, aunque no perfectamente

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

imperfectly

[ɪmˈpɜː^rfɪktli] adv [speak a language] → imparfaitement
imperfectly understood → imparfaitement compris(e)

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

imperfectly

adv → unvollkommen; (= incompletely) → unvollständig

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

imperfectly

[ɪmˈpɜːfɪktlɪ] adv → in modo imperfetto
an imperfectly produced copy → una copia imperfetta

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

imperfect

(imˈpəːfikt) adjective

1. having a fault. This coat is being sold at half-price because it is imperfect.

2. (also noun) (a verb) of the tense expressing an action or state in the past which is not completed. The verb `go' in `I was going' is in the imperfect tense.

imˈperfectly adverb

ˌimperˈfection (-ˈfekʃən) noun

(the state of having) a fault or defect.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

In Ionia and the islands the epic poets followed the Homeric tradition, singing of romantic subjects in the now stereotyped heroic style, and showing originality only in their choice of legends hitherto neglected or summarily and imperfectly treated.

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The Malay Archipelago is one of the richest regions of the whole world in organic beings; yet if all the species were to be collected which have ever lived there, how imperfectly would they represent the natural history of the world!

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The only new book which I remember to have read in those two or three years at Dayton, when I hardly remember to have read any old ones, was the novel of 'Jane Eyre,' which I took in very imperfectly, and which I associate with the first rumor of the Rochester Knockings, then just beginning to reverberate through a world that they have not since left wholly at peace.

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The war was young and soldiering a new industry, imperfectly understood by the young American of the period, who found some features of it not altogether to his liking.

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Zarathustra, then,--this shadowy, allegorical personality, speaking in allegories and parables, and at times not even refraining from relating his own dreams--is a figure we can understand but very imperfectly if we have no knowledge of his creator and counterpart, Friedrich Nietzsche; and it were therefore well, previous to our study of the more abstruse parts of this book, if we were to turn to some authoritative book on Nietzsche's life and works and to read all that is there said on the subject.

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VIGILANS--The Laws of Auroral Derangements are still imperfectly understood.

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However imperfectly those disturbances are set forth in the following pages, they are impartially painted by one who has no sympathy with the Romish Church, though he acknowledges, as most men do, some esteemed friends among the followers of its creed.

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As Oliver gave this first proof of the free and proper action of his lungs, the patchwork coverlet which was carelessly flung over the iron bedstead, rustled; the pale face of a young woman was raised feebly from the pillow; and a faint voice imperfectly articulated the words, 'Let me see the child, and die.'

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The fugitive-slave clause of the Constitution, and the law for the suppression of the foreign slave-trade, are each as well enforced, perhaps, as any law can ever be in a community where the moral sense of the people imperfectly supports the law itself.

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He had communicated it to no creature: he had not breathed a syllable of it even to Mary; while uncertain of the issue, he could not have borne any participation of his feelings, but this had been his business; and he spoke with such a glow of what his solicitude had been, and used such strong expressions, was so abounding in the deepest interest, in twofold motives, in views and wishes more than could be told, that Fanny could not have remained insensible of his drift, had she been able to attend; but her heart was so full and her senses still so astonished, that she could listen but imperfectly even to what he told her of William, and saying only when he paused, "How kind!

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She understood French imperfectly unless directly addressed, and the voices were only part of the other drowsy, muffled sounds lulling her senses.

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Wemmick as we went along, to see what he was like in the light of day, I found him to be a dry man, rather short in stature, with a square wooden face, whose expression seemed to have been imperfectly chipped out with a dull-edged chisel.

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