Adjacent Words

Defective definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DEFECTIVE, a.
1. Wanting either in substance, quantity or quality, or in any thing necessary; imperfect; as a defective limb; defective timber; a defective copy or book; a defective account. Defective articulation, in speaking, renders utterance indistinct.
2. Wanting in moral qualities; faulty; blamable; not conforming to rectitude or rule; as a defective character.
3. In grammar, a defective noun is one which wants a whole number or a particular case; an indeclinable noun.
4. A defective verb, is one which wants some of the tenses.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: having a defect; "I returned the appliance because it was defective" [syn: defective, faulty]
2: markedly subnormal in structure or function or intelligence or behavior; "defective speech"
3: not working properly; "a bad telephone connection"; "a defective appliance" [syn: bad, defective]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Date: 14th century 1. a. imperfect in form or function ; faulty <a defective pane of glass> b. falling below the norm in structure or in mental or physical function <defective eyesight> 2. lacking one or more of the usual forms of grammatical inflection <must is a defective verb> • defectively adverb • defectiveness noun II. noun Date: 1592 a person who is subnormal physically or mentally

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 having a defect or defects; incomplete, imperfect, faulty. 2 mentally subnormal. 3 (usu. foll. by in) lacking, deficient. 4 Gram. not having all the usual inflections. --n. a mentally defective person. Derivatives: defectively adv. defectiveness n. Etymology: ME f. OF defectif -ive or LL defectivus (as DEFECT)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Defective De*fect"ive, a. [L. defectivus: cf. F. d['e]fectif. See Defect.] 1. Wanting in something; incomplete; lacking a part; deficient; imperfect; faulty; -- applied either to natural or moral qualities; as, a defective limb; defective timber; a defective copy or account; a defective character; defective rules. 2. (Gram.) Lacking some of the usual forms of declension or conjugation; as, a defective noun or verb. -- De*fect"ive*ly, adv. -- De*fect"ive*ness, n.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Defective De*fect"ive, n. 1. Anything that is defective or lacking in some respect. 2. (Med.) One who is lacking physically or mentally. Note: Under the term defectives are included deaf-mutes, the blind, the feeble-minded, the insane, and sometimes, esp. in criminology, criminals and paupers.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If something is defective, there is something wrong with it and it does not work properly. Retailers can return defective merchandise. ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Deficient, insufficient, inadequate, incomplete. 2. Imperfect, faulty, marred.

Moby Thesaurus

aberrant, abroad, adrift, adulterated, all abroad, all off, all wrong, ament, amiss, amputee, arrested, askew, astray, at fault, awry, backward, beside the mark, blemished, born fool, broken, callow, checked, cicatrized, clot, congenital idiot, corrupt, corrupted, cracked, crazed, cretin, cripple, damaged, debased, deceptive, defaced, deficient, deformed, deformity, delusive, deranged, deviant, deviational, deviative, disfigured, disordered, distorted, disturbed, embryonic, errant, erring, erroneous, exceptional, failing, fallacious, fallible, false, faultful, faulty, flawed, found wanting, golem, half-assed, half-wit, handicapped person, heretical, heterodox, hypoplastic, idiot, illogical, illusory, imbecile, immature, impaired, imperfect, imprecise, impure, in arrear, in arrears, in default, in short supply, inaccurate, inadequate, incapable, incompetent, incomplete, inexact, infant, injured, insufficient, juggins, keloidal, kinked, lacking, makeshift, marred, mediocre, mentally deficient, missing, mixed, mongoloid idiot, moron, natural, natural idiot, natural-born fool, needing, not enough, not perfect, not right, not true, off, off the track, on the blink, on the fritz, out, out of order, paralytic, paraplegic, part, partial, patchy, peccant, perverse, perverted, pimpled, pimply, quadriplegic, retarded, scabbed, scabby, scant, scanty, scarified, scarred, scrappy, self-contradictory, short, shy, sick, simp, simple, simpleton, sketchy, split, straying, subnormal, the crippled, the handicapped, too little, twisted, underdeveloped, undeveloped, unequal to, uneven, unfactual, unfinished, unhealthy, unorthodox, unperfected, unproved, unqualified, unsatisfactory, unsatisfying, unsettled, unsound, unsufficing, unthorough, untrue, vitiated, wanting, warped, wide, wrong