imperfect
Not perfect; having faults
Not perfect; having small problems, mistakes, or weaknesses.
an imperfect [noun]
- Our plan is still imperfect, but it's better than doing nothing.
- The system is imperfect and sometimes makes the wrong decision.
- He gave an imperfect explanation that left everyone confused.
- This is only an imperfect copy of the original painting.
- In an imperfect world, we do the best we can.
- Her English is imperfect, but I can understand her.
- The report is imperfect because we did not have all the data.
- This phone is imperfect, but it was cheap.
- My memory of that day is imperfect.
- We live in an imperfect world.
Describing a certain past tense
In grammar, talking about a past verb form that shows an action was going on or happened many times in the past.
the imperfect [tense/form]
- In Latin, the imperfect tense describes actions that were ongoing in the past.
- The teacher asked us to change each verb into the imperfect form.
- In this language, the imperfect is used for repeated past actions.
- Spanish students often confuse the imperfect and the preterite.
- You need the imperfect tense here because the action was still in progress.
- In this exercise, you must use the imperfect tense.
- The imperfect tense shows that the action was not finished.
- In French, the imperfect is very common in stories.
- We learned the imperfect form of the verb 'to be'.
- She explained how to make the imperfect in Spanish.
The imperfect tense in grammar
In grammar, a past verb form that shows an action was going on or happened again and again in the past.
the imperfect of [verb]
- We have not yet studied the imperfect in this course.
- What is the imperfect of the verb 'to go' in Spanish?
- In this text, the author switches between the imperfect and the perfect.
- You should use the imperfect here to describe the background action.
- The teacher asked us to write ten sentences in the imperfect.
- I find the imperfect in French difficult.
- We will learn the imperfect next week.
- Can you show me the imperfect of this verb?
- They practiced the imperfect in class today.
- She wrote a story using only the imperfect.
- Base: imperfect
- Base: imperfect
- Plural: imperfects
imperfect competition
1Non-ideal market competition
A type of market where a few companies have power, so the situation is not like perfect competition in textbooks.
- Most real markets show some form of imperfect competition.
- The model assumes imperfect competition among firms in the industry.
- Imperfect competition can lead to higher prices for consumers.
imperfect information
1Not having full information
A situation, especially in economics, where people do not know everything they need to know to make the best choice.
- Markets with imperfect information may not work efficiently.
- The study looks at how imperfect information affects consumer decisions.
- Because of imperfect information, investors made several bad choices.
imperfect tense
1Grammatical tense for ongoing past
A past verb form that shows an action was going on or happened again and again in the past.
- In this chapter, we will study the imperfect tense.
- The imperfect tense is often used to describe background actions in a story.
- Some languages do not have an imperfect tense.
imperfect world
1A world with many faults
The real world, which has many problems and is not perfect.
- In an imperfect world, we have to make compromises.
- She knows it's an imperfect world, but she still tries to help people.
- We do our best in this imperfect world.