# perfect

Pronunciation: say "PUR-fikt" US /ˈpɝ.fɪkt/, UK /ˈpɜː.fɪkt/

## Adjective

1. Just right, or ideally fitted to a given person, use, or circumstance, often followed by for.
   - Simple: Exactly right for a certain person, use, or time, often used with for.
   - _The quiet cabin turned out to be the perfect place to finish her novel._
   - _With its big fenced yard, the house is perfect for a family with dogs._
2. Without any fault, mistake, or flaw, and of the highest possible quality.
   - Simple: Having no faults or mistakes, and as good as something can be.
   - _The gymnast delivered a perfect routine that scored top marks._
   - _After many tries, they achieved a perfect seal on the container._
3. Excellent and delightful in every respect, leaving nothing to be desired.
   - Simple: Very good and enjoyable in every way.
   - _They spent a perfect weekend hiking through the mountains and stargazing at night._
   - _The dinner party was perfect, from the food to the conversation._
5. Exactly matching its type or an original in every detail; precise.
   - Simple: Exactly like what it should be or what it copies, in every detail, as in a perfect copy.
   - _The fossil is a perfect specimen of the species, showing every diagnostic trait._
   - _His behavior was a perfect illustration of what not to do._
6. Complete or utter, used to emphasize a noun rather than to praise what it names.
   - Simple: Complete or total, used to make a word stronger, not to say that something is good.
   - _He's been talking perfect nonsense about the election all evening._
   - _The new manager made a perfect mess of the holiday schedule._
7. Morally or spiritually flawless; without sin or guilt.
   - Simple: Completely good, with no sin or wrongdoing.
   - _The saint was revered as a perfect soul, untouched by sin._
   - _He strove to lead a perfect life guided by his faith._
8. Having all its parts working together in harmony toward a common purpose.
   - Simple: Made of parts that all work well together for one goal.
10. In grammar, describing a verb form that represents a completed action.
   - Simple: In grammar, showing that an action is already finished.
   - _English uses the perfect aspect to mark actions viewed as completed._
   - _A perfect construction emphasizes that the event has concluded._
11. In music, describing the intervals of a unison, octave, fourth, or fifth, excluding the tritone.
   - Simple: In music, describing certain pure intervals like the octave, fourth, and fifth.
   - _The melody opens with a perfect fourth between the first two notes._
   - _A perfect fifth spans seven semitones._
12. Of a mixed drink: made with equal parts sweet vermouth and dry vermouth, rather than just one.
   - Simple: Describes a cocktail made with equal amounts of sweet and dry vermouth.
   - _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._
13. Of an actor or performer: having learned a part so thoroughly that it can be delivered without a mistake.
   - Simple: Knowing your lines in a play or show so well that you make no mistakes.
14. In mathematics, describing a number equal to the sum of its proper divisors.
   - Simple: In math, a number that equals the sum of the smaller numbers that divide it.
   - _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._
16. Of a flower: having both the male parts (stamens) and the female parts (carpels) in the same structure.
   - Simple: Describes a flower that has both male and female parts.
   - _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._
17. Of an organism, having reached sexual maturity, with all body structures fully developed.
   - Simple: Describes a living thing that is grown enough to breed, with its body fully formed.
18. Of a set, equal to its own set of limit points.
   - Simple: In math, describes a set with no lone points, which also contains every point its members crowd close to.
   - _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._

## Verb

Pronunciation: US say "pur-FEKT" /pɚˈfɛkt/; UK say "puh-FEKT" /pəˈfɛkt/

4. To bring something to its finest state by improving or honing it.
   - Simple: To make something as good as it can be.
   - _Engineers continue to perfect the design with each new model._
   - _She perfected her technique through endless rehearsal._
15. To take the action, usually filing a document in the proper venue, that secures a legal right.
   - Simple: To do the legal step, often filing a paper, that makes a right official and protected.
   - _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._

## Noun

9. In grammar, the tense expressing a completed action, or a verb form in that tense.
   - Simple: In grammar, the verb form used to show a finished action.
   - _She formed the perfect by adding an auxiliary verb before the participle._
   - _In many grammar books, the perfect contrasts with the simple past._
22. A fully initiated Cathar who had received the consolamentum and lived under strict vows, serving as the movement's clergy.
   - Simple: In the old Cathar religion, a leader who guided the group.
   - _Believers came to the perfect to receive blessing and instruction._
   - _The perfects of Languedoc preached poverty and were hunted during the crusade._

## Adjective

19. Of a person, fully trained, highly skilled, or thoroughly knowledgeable in an art or discipline. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Describes a person who is fully trained and very skilled at something.
20. Of a person, well informed, certain, and entirely sure of something. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Describes a person who is well informed and completely sure about something.
21. Sane; in full possession of one's mental faculties. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Having a healthy mind and able to think clearly.

## Other meanings

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

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3, 5–14, 16–22** — From Middle English perfit, from Old French parfit, from Latin perfectus, the past participle of perficere ('to finish'), formed from per- ('through, thorough') plus facere ('to do, to make'). The spelling was changed in the 15th century to match its Latin source, and it replaced the native Old English fulfremed.
**Meanings 4, 15** — From the adjective perfect.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/perfect (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).