Cambridge Dictionaries online Cambridge Dictionaries online

The most popular online dictionary and thesaurus for learners of English

  

imperfect

noun [S]
 
 
/ɪmˈpɜː.fekt/ US  /-ˈpɝː-/

Definition

the imperfect specialized in some languages, the form of a verb that is used for an action that has not been completed in the past, used, for example, to refer to an action that was happening when it was suddenly interrupted, or to describe an existing situation at the beginning of a story: In the sentence 'He was hit by a car as he was crossing the road', the verb 'cross' is in the imperfect.Verb forms, tenses and types of verbsGrammatical terms
(Definition of imperfect noun from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

“imperfect” in other dictionaries

Word of the Day

a cloud on the horizon

something which threatens to cause problems or unhappiness in the future

Word of the Day

Blog

Read our blog about how the English language behaves.

Learn More

New Words

Find words and meanings that have just started to be used in English, and let us know what you think of them.

Learn More