Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The quality or condition of being perfect.
- noun The act or process of perfecting.
- noun A person or thing considered to be perfect.
- noun An instance of excellence.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To complete; make perfect.
- noun Performance; accomplishment.
- noun The state of being perfect, as in material, form, design, composition, construction, operation, action, qualification, etc.; that degree of excellence which leaves nothing to be desired, or in which nothing requisite is wanting; entire freedom from defect, blemish, weakness, or liability to err or fail; supreme excellence, whether moral or material; completeness or thoroughness: as, perfection in an art; fruits in perfection; the perfection of beauty: often used concretely: as, she is perfection.
- noun A quality, trait, feature, endowment, or acquirement that is characterized by excellence or is of great worth or value; excellency.
- noun The extreme; the highest degree; consummation: as, the perfection of cruelty.
- noun In medieval music, triple rhythm or measure. See
measure - noun With the highest degree of excellence or success: as, he acted the part to perfection.
- noun Synonyms Perfectness, completion, consummation.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The quality or state of being perfect or complete, so that nothing requisite is wanting; entire development; consummate culture, skill, or moral excellence; the highest attainable state or degree of excellence; maturity
- noun A quality, endowment, or acquirement completely excellent; an ideal faultlessness; especially, the divine attribute of complete excellence.
- noun in the highest degree of excellence; perfectly; as, to imitate a model
to perfection . - transitive verb obsolete To perfect.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The
quality or state of beingperfect or complete, so that nothing requisite is wanting; entire development; consummate culture,skill , ormoral excellence ; the highestattainable state or degree ofexcellence ; maturity; as, perfection in an art, in a science, or in a system; perfection in form or degree; fruits in perfection. - noun A quality,
endowment , or acquirement completelyexcellent ; anideal ; faultlessness; especially, thedivine attribute of complete excellence. - noun To perfection, in the highest degree of excellence;
perfectly ; as, to imitate a model to perfection. - verb obsolete, transitive To
perfect .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the act of making something perfect
- noun an ideal instance; a perfect embodiment of a concept
- noun the state of being without a flaw or defect
Etymologies
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Examples
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_The desire of happiness, ample and complete, beyond what this world can afford, is not planted in man by defect of his nature, but by the perfection of his nature, and in view of his further perfection_.
Moral Philosophy Joseph Rickaby 1888
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Culture is then properly described not as having its origin in curiosity, but as having its origin in the love of perfection; it is a _study of perfection_.
Matthew Arnold George William Erskine Russell 1886
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III. vi.100 (342,9) Is your perfection] Your _perfection_, is _the highest of your excellence_.
Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The Tragedies Samuel Johnson 1746
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For our purposes, however, the failure to attain perfection is not so important as the fact that the ideal exists and persists.
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In the same way the drama Den fuldendtes hustru (1907) [The Wife of the Perfect One], which deals with the purifications that Buddha's wife must undergo to attain perfection, is a masterpiece.
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In stating the ontological argument the term perfection has been expressly emphasized, because it may be taken to embrace both truth and goodness.
The Approach to Philosophy Ralph Barton Perry 1916
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Camazotz has indeed achieved what one character describes as “consistent perfection,” but the price of this perfection is a totalitarian nightmare, and only the misfit who accepts personal responsibility for her actions can defeat the evil that threatens to engulf her family.
Simple Tricks and Nonsense: Addendum: My Wrinkle in Time Essay 2004
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Camazotz has indeed achieved what one character describes as “consistent perfection,” but the price of this perfection is a totalitarian nightmare, and only the misfit who accepts personal responsibility for her actions can defeat the evil that threatens to engulf her family.
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Few people at your age have read, seen, and known, so much as you have; and consequently few are so near as yourself to what I call perfection, by which I only, mean being very near as well as the best.
Letters to his son on The Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman 2005
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To have to go out and execute to perfection is tough.
USATODAY.com 2003
brobbins commented on the word perfection
truth
July 23, 2009
dontcry commented on the word perfection
Gum.
July 23, 2009
bilby commented on the word perfection
Elusive.
July 23, 2009
PossibleUnderscore commented on the word perfection
Lexus: The Pursuit of Perfection
July 23, 2009