perfect
adjective · verb
Simple meaning
Without fault or mistake.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
perfehktSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
pɚˈfɛkt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Without fault or mistake; without flaw, of supreme quality.
Having all of its parts in harmony with a common purpose.
Fitting its definition precisely.
of an actor
Having thoroughly learned or memorized a part.
of a copy
Exact, correctly reflecting the original in all aspects.
of a cocktail
Made with equal parts of sweet and dry vermouth.
verb
Make perfect or complete
transitive
To make perfect; to improve or hone.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Without fault or mistake; without flaw, of supreme quality.
Used this way, perfect is a specialist word with a mildly favourable edge. It turns up most in technical or specialist writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly positive
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Positive and appreciative
- Usage feel
- Clinical and detached
Where it naturally appears
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use perfect
- “The weather was absolutely perfect for our outdoor picnic.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Perfect, without faults, flaws or errors.
Containing no mistakes.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Completely and without qualification.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A game in which a pitcher does not allow any opposing player to reach base.
A participle that expresses completed action.
The ability to identify the pitch of a tone.
A tense of verbs used in describing action that has been completed (sometimes regarded as perfective aspect).
A hypothetical gas with molecules of negligible size that exert no intermolecular forces.
A perfective tense used to express action completed in the present.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: without fault or mistake
Antonyms
Sense: without fault or mistake
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.