adjective
- of, relating to, or characterized by defects or weaknesses: imperfect vision.
- not perfect; lacking completeness: imperfect knowledge.
- Grammar. noting action or state still in process at some temporal point of reference, particularly in the past.
- Law. being without legal effect or support; unenforceable.
- Botany. (of a flower) diclinous.
- Music. of or relating to the interval of a major or minor third or sixth.Compare perfect(def 13a).
noun Grammar.
- the imperfect tense.
- another verb formation or construction with imperfect meaning.
- a form in the imperfect, as Latin portābam, “I was carrying.”
adjective
- exhibiting or characterized by faults, mistakes, etc; defective
- not complete or finished; deficient
- botany
- (of flowers) lacking functional stamens or pistils
- (of fungi) not undergoing sexual reproduction
- grammar denoting a tense of verbs used most commonly in describing continuous or repeated past actions or events, as for example was walking as opposed to walked
- law (of a trust, an obligation, etc) lacking some necessary formality to make effective or binding; incomplete; legally unenforceableSee also executory (def. 1)
- music
- (of a cadence) proceeding to the dominant from the tonic, subdominant, or any chord other than the dominant
- of or relating to all intervals other than the fourth, fifth, and octaveCompare perfect (def. 9)
noun
- grammar
- the imperfect tense
- a verb in this tense
mid-14c., imperfite, from Old French imparfait, from Latin imperfectus “unfinished, incomplete,” from assimilated form of in- “not, opposite of” (see in- (1)) + perfectus (see perfect). Replaced mid-16c. by the Latin form. Related: Imperfectly.