defective
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.having a fault or a problem that stops something from working correctly.
adj.having one or more flaws; imperfect in form, structure, or function.
Simple“I had to return the toaster because it was defective and wouldn't heat up.”
In context“The company issued a massive recall after discovering that a defective valve in the engine could lead to sudden power loss.”
- 02 C1 Advanced
adj.describing a word that does not have all the usual forms, like a verb that has no past tense.
adj.lacking a full paradigm of inflected forms; for example, a verb that cannot be conjugated in all tenses or persons.
Simple“The verb 'must' is defective because it does not have a past tense form.”
In context“Modal verbs in English are considered defective since they lack infinitive forms and do not take the third-person singular suffix.”
UsageIn linguistics, this adjective typically modifies nouns like 'verb', 'noun', or 'paradigm'.
Synonyms - 03 C2 Proficiency
n.an object that has a flaw or does not work as it should.
n.a person or thing categorized as having a defect; in modern usage, this often refers to manufactured goods in a quality control context.
Simple“The factory worker removed the defectives from the assembly line before they were packed.”
In context“The inspector was tasked with identifying any defectives in the batch of precision lenses before they were shipped to the laboratory.”
- 04 C2 Proficiency
adj.describing a way of writing that does not show all the sounds of a language.
adj.referring to a script or spelling system that lacks the means to represent all phonemic distinctions, such as vowels.
Simple“Some ancient scripts used a defective spelling system that didn't include vowels.”
In context“The scholar noted that the defective orthography of the inscription made it difficult to determine the exact pronunciation of the royal names.”
Antonymsplene
“After Elliott started to raise concerns about defective buildings, he told the inquiry Nassif went “nuts”.”
From Middle English defectif, defective, from Old French defectif, from Late Latin dēfectīvus.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.