perfect

Less common meanings

8. 8
   adjective

   Having all its parts working together in harmony toward a common purpose.

   Similarharmonious

   Note

   Here perfection is a matter of fit between parts rather than freedom from flaws: a perfect team or machine is one whose members all serve the same end. The praise goes to the whole, so one part pulling the wrong way is what spoils it. Compare the flawless meaning, which judges a thing against an ideal.

9. 9
   a tensenoun

   In grammar, the tense expressing a completed action, or a verb form in that tense.

   She formed the perfect by adding an auxiliary verb before the participle.

   In many grammar books, the perfect contrasts with the simple past.

   UsageUsually named with a tense: the present perfect (has gone), the past perfect (had gone).

10. 10
    adjective

    In grammar, describing a verb form that represents a completed action.

    English uses the perfect aspect to mark actions viewed as completed.

    A perfect construction emphasizes that the event has concluded.

    Note

    The grammarian's use stays closest to the Latin perfectus, 'finished'. In English the perfect is built with the auxiliary have and a past participle: has gone, had finished, will have left. It relates an earlier action or state to some reference time. That is why it can look back from the past or the future as easily as from now. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • The grammatical sense reflects the Latin meaning ‘finished’ or ‘completed’. en.wikipedia.org
    • The perfect relates an earlier action or state to a reference time; it can also describe unfinished states. learnenglish.britishcouncil.org
11. 11
    music intervaladjective

    In music, describing the intervals of a unison, octave, fourth, or fifth, excluding the tritone.

    The melody opens with a perfect fourth between the first two notes.

    A perfect fifth spans seven semitones.

    Note

    Music theory sets the unison, octave, fourth and fifth apart as perfect, rather than major or minor. The tritone, an augmented fourth or diminished fifth, falls outside the class even though it lies between them. The adjective attaches directly to the interval's name: perfect fifth, perfect fourth, perfect octave. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Unisons, octaves, fourths and fifths can be perfect, but cannot be major or minor. musictheory.pugetsound.edu
    • A tritone is an augmented fourth or diminished fifth, rather than a perfect interval. musictheory.pugetsound.edu
    • The tritone lies between the perfect fourth and perfect fifth in size. interlochen.org
12. 12
    cocktailadjective

    Of a mixed drink: made with equal parts sweet vermouth and dry vermouth, rather than just one.

    He prefers a perfect Manhattan, where the two vermouths are poured in equal measure.

    If you find a dry martini too sharp, try a perfect one, which divides the vermouth evenly between sweet and dry.

    Note

    A bartender's word, it goes before the drink's name: a perfect Manhattan, a perfect Rob Roy. It says nothing about quality. An ordinary Manhattan is not imperfect; this one simply splits its vermouth evenly between sweet and dry. Ordering a perfect Manhattan is a recipe instruction, not a compliment. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • A perfect Manhattan uses equal parts sweet and dry vermouth. en.wikipedia.org
    • A perfect Rob Roy is also a cocktail variation using equal parts sweet and dry vermouth. en.wikipedia.org
13. 13
    adjective

    Of an actor or performer: having learned a part so thoroughly that it can be delivered without a mistake.

    UsageUsually perfect in + the part or lines: perfect in her lines.

    Similarword-perfect

14. 14
    adjective

    In mathematics, describing a number equal to the sum of its proper divisors.

    After 6 and 28, the next perfect number is 496, which equals the sum of all its proper divisors.

    Mathematicians have long searched for odd perfect numbers.

    Note

    Six is the classic case: 1 + 2 + 3 = 6. Twenty-eight is another, being 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14. The word proper matters, because it excludes the number itself; leave it out and every number greater than one fails the test. Whether any odd perfect number exists is still unproven, which keeps the term alive in research as well as in puzzles. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • Six is perfect because its proper divisors sum to six. people.math.harvard.edu
    • Twenty-eight is perfect because 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14 = 28. people.math.harvard.edu
    • Proper divisors exclude the number itself. en.wikipedia.org
    • Every positive integer greater than one would fail. One is an exception: its only positive divisor is itself, so its divisor sum is one. jeffe.cs.illinois.edu
    • Whether any odd perfect number exists remains unresolved. en.wikipedia.org
15. 15
    secure (law)verbtransitive

    To take the action, usually filing a document in the proper venue, that secures a legal right.

    Lenders perfect a security interest so that it holds up against other creditors.

    To perfect the appeal, counsel filed the notice within the statutory deadline.

    Note

    Lawyers use this verb with a narrow set of objects: perfect an appeal, perfect an interest, perfect a judgment. The right already exists in some form. Perfecting it is the procedural step that completes it; for a security interest, that means making it hold against third parties, so an unperfected security interest may lose out to another creditor's claim. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Perfection can concern a right that already exists in some form. law.cornell.edu
    • The effect depends on the object and jurisdiction. In New York, perfecting an appeal prepares it for appellate consideration. For security interests, perfection generally helps establish priority against competing claims. nycourts.gov
    • An unperfected security interest may rank behind another creditor's claim. law.cornell.edu
16. 16
    floweradjective

    Of a flower: having both the male parts (stamens) and the female parts (carpels) in the same structure.

    Although an apple blossom is a perfect flower, most apple trees still need pollen from another variety to bear fruit.

    Lilies produce perfect blooms, unlike the separate male and female flowers of many squashes.

    Similarbisexual, hermaphroditic

    Oppositeimperfect, unisexual

    Note

    Botanists use the word to say nothing is missing from a flower's set of reproductive organs. Stamens and carpels share one bloom, so the flower may be able to set seed without a partner flower. It is not praise of the flower's beauty. Hermaphroditic says the same thing in plainer biological terms, and it is distinct from the 'sexually mature' sense used of animals. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • A perfect flower has both male and female reproductive organs in the same bloom. sweetgum.nybg.org
    • Some perfect flowers are self-incompatible and require pollen from another plant to produce seeds. passel2.unl.edu
    • Hermaphroditic describes a flower with both functional stamens and functional carpels. en.wikipedia.org
17. 17
    matureadjective

    Of an organism, having reached sexual maturity, with all body structures fully developed.

    Similarmature, adult

    Oppositeimmature

    Note

    Biology's perfect means finished in development: the organism has completed its growth and can reproduce. Entomologists use it especially of the adult insect, the stage that in moths and butterflies emerges from the pupa. The word carries no praise here at all. A perfect moth is simply a grown one, with its reproductive structures fully formed. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • The biological sense describes an organism that has reached sexual maturity and full differentiation. en.wiktionary.org
    • Adults emerge from pupae in insects with complete metamorphosis; insects with incomplete metamorphosis develop from nymphs into adults. australian.museum
    • A perfect moth is a mature adult with developed reproductive structures. genent.cals.ncsu.edu
18. 18
    set (math)adjective

    Of a set, equal to its own set of limit points.

    The Cantor set is perfect, since it is closed and each of its points is a limit point of the set.

    A closed interval of real numbers is perfect, equal to its own set of limit points.

    Note

    In analysis, a perfect set has no loners. It is closed, and every one of its points is a limit of other points in the set, so none sits isolated. A closed interval qualifies, and so does the Cantor set. The term has nothing to do with perfect numbers; the two uses share only the word. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • A perfect set is closed and has no isolated points; every point is a limit point of other points in the set. people.math.sc.edu
    • Closed intervals and the Cantor set provide examples of perfect sets. en.wikipedia.org
    • Perfect numbers use a different mathematical meaning of perfect. en.wikipedia.org
19. 19
    adjectiveobsolete

    Of a person, fully trained, highly skilled, or thoroughly knowledgeable in an art or discipline.

    Our Battaile is more full of Names then yours, / Our Men more perfect in the vse of Armes, / Our Armor all as strong, our Cause the best

    c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth,. Epilogue.”

    Note

    Shakespeare's soldiers in The Second Part of Henry the Fourth are 'more perfect in the vse of Armes', meaning better trained and more practiced. The construction is perfect in plus a skill. It shows the word naming accomplishment rather than flawlessness. The use is obsolete and reads only as period language; a modern writer would say skilled in or proficient at. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Shakespeare's The Second Part of Henry the Fourth contains the quoted wording about soldiers, spoken by Westmoreland. server-66-113-234-189.da.direct
    • Perfect here means trained or skilled, describing accomplishment. en.wiktionary.org
    • The quotation illustrates perfect in followed by a skill. folger.edu
20. 20
    adjectiveobsolete

    Of a person, well informed, certain, and entirely sure of something.

    I am perfect that the Pannonians and Dalmatians for their liberties are now in arms.

    1611, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”

    Note

    Here the word takes a that-clause, exactly as sure does. In Shakespeare's Cymbeline a speaker announces, 'I am perfect that the Pannonians and Dalmatians for their liberties are now in arms.' Like the obsolete 'skilled' meaning, it belongs to older English. Today the line would read I am sure that, and perfect in that slot would be heard as praise. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Perfect takes a that-clause in the cited historical use. gutenberg.org
    • The quotation occurs in Shakespeare's Cymbeline; the speaker is Cymbeline. gutenberg.org
    • The historical meaning is well informed, certain or sure. en.wiktionary.org
    • The skilled meaning is also obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
21. 21
    adjectiveobsolete

    Sane; in full possession of one's mental faculties.

    Pray, do not mock me. / I am a very foolish fond old man, / Fourscore and upward, not an hour more nor less / And, to deal plainly, / I fear I am not in my perfect mind.

    c. 1603, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”

    Note

    King Lear gives the use its most famous line: 'I fear I am not in my perfect mind.' Perfect there means whole and unimpaired, and it pairs naturally with mind. Lear frames it as a negative, a frightened doubt about his own sanity. The sense is obsolete; a modern speaker would say of sound mind or in my right mind. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Lear speaks the quoted words in King Lear, Act 4, scene 7. folger.edu
    • Perfect describes a sound, unimpaired mental condition here, and this sense is obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
    • Lear expresses the thought negatively, as fear about his mental condition. folger.edu
    • The sanity sense is obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
22. 22
    Cathar leadernounhistoricalcountable

    A fully initiated Cathar who had received the consolamentum and lived under strict vows, serving as the movement's clergy.

    Believers came to the perfect to receive blessing and instruction.

    The perfects of Languedoc preached poverty and were hunted during the crusade.

    Note

    Outsiders used this term for the full initiates of the medieval Cathar movement, who called themselves good men; perfectus is the Latin equivalent. A perfect had received the consolamentum and lived under strict ascetic vows, set apart from the ordinary believers. The word is historical and refers to the movement itself, not to moral perfection in general. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Perfecti was an external designation; the initiates were known within their community as good men or good women. en.wikipedia.org
    • Perfectus is the Latin equivalent. en.wikipedia.org
    • A perfect had received the consolamentum and was obliged to follow strict ascetic practices. tile.loc.gov
    • Perfects were distinguished from ordinary believers. en.wikipedia.org
23. 23
    noun

    A flawless score, earned by completing a stage or task without making a single mistake.