Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The quality or condition of being imperfect.
  • noun Something imperfect; a defect or flaw. synonym: blemish.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The character or condition of being imperfect; want of perfection; defectiveness; faultiness.
  • noun An imperfect detail; a particular in which perfection is lacking; a defect, physical, mental, or moral.
  • noun Synonyms Defect, deficiency, incompleteness, fault, failing, weakness, frailty, foible, blemish, vice.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The quality or condition of being imperfect; lack of perfection; incompleteness; deficiency; fault or blemish.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable Those qualities or features that are imperfect; the characteristic, state, or quality of being imperfect.
  • noun countable Something that makes something else less than perfect; a blemish, impurity, error, etc.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the state or an instance of being imperfect

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

im- +‎ perfection.

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Examples

  • That doesn't mean that we revel in imperfection, as is the implication of The Times 'story - that we have no standards.

    Journalism: product v process (Blog for Democracy) 2009

  • It's true that, as you point out, one can also argue that imperfection is not proved.

    Collins' Deistic Hangover 2009

  • It doesn't look so accidental to me; a film that depicts humans achieving peace only at the price of their emotions, their desires, their individuality, and their ability to walk normally seems to understand that imperfection is an intrinsic part of what it means to be human.

    Archive 2007-08-01 2007

  • It doesn't look so accidental to me; a film that depicts humans achieving peace only at the price of their emotions, their desires, their individuality, and their ability to walk normally seems to understand that imperfection is an intrinsic part of what it means to be human.

    Movie Review: The Invasion 2007

  • As far as I can tell, any self-tanner I tried was like taking an ink pen and making my every skin imperfection darker, thereby bringing more attention to it.

    triangles 2007

  • Anyway, imperfection is what makes things INTERESTING.

    deadly sins « Magic Lantern Arts 2003

  • Anyway, imperfection is what makes things INTERESTING.

    2003 March « Magic Lantern Arts 2003

  • All imperfection is easier to tolerate if served up in small doses.

    Wislawa Szymborska - Nobel Lecture 1996

  • This imperfection is caused by plucking the ear when too green.

    Buffalo Bird Woman's Garden 1917

  • It's a calm model of parenting that has built into its core the idea of imperfection; theirs, ours, hers.

    Lowering the Bar 2010

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