defective

Language: en

🇬🇧 /dɪˈfɛktɪv/ 🇺🇸 /dɪˈfɛktɪv/

📖 Definitions

  1. adjective
    Having a flaw, fault, or imperfection; not functioning properly or not meeting required standards.; Lacking something essential or necessary; incomplete.; In linguistics, referring to a word that lacks certain grammatical forms or inflections that would normally be expected.
  2. noun
    A person or thing that is defective; an item that fails to meet quality standards.

🔗 Details

Word forms

countable Plural: defectives Comparative: more defective Superlative: most defective

Collocations

defective productdefective genedefective equipmentdefective materialdefective itemdefective part

Derivatives

defectdefectivelydefectivenessdefectiondefector

Synonyms

faultyflawedimperfectmalfunctioningbrokendeficient

Antonyms

perfectflawlessfunctionalsound

Commonly confused

deficient
EN: 'Deficient' means lacking in quantity or quality; 'defective' means having a specific flaw or malfunction.
defect
EN: 'Defect' is the noun (the flaw itself) or verb (to desert); 'defective' is the adjective describing something that has a defect.

Spelling tips

EN: Do not confuse 'defective' (having a flaw) with 'deficient' (lacking in amount). Both derive from Latin 'deficere' but have diverged in meaning.

💬 Examples

  1. The company recalled thousands of defective batteries.

  2. The argument was defective because it relied on unverified assumptions.

  3. The English verb 'beware' is defective because it lacks most conjugated forms.

  4. The factory sorted out the defectives before shipping the products.