Underperfecting

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of not completing the process necessary to make something perfect
2. The process by which something remains incomplete or lacking final refinement
3. The condition of something being imperfect due to insufficient finishing or improvement

Etymology: Its meaning rests on a Latin idea of completion. "Perfect" comes from Latin "perfectus," the past participle of "perficere," meaning "to finish, carry through to the end," built from "per-" ("thoroughly") and "facere" ("to make, do"). In that original sense, something perfect was simply finished, with no implication of flawlessness. English "perfect" kept that older meaning of completeness for centuries. The newer word stacks English parts onto that base. "Under-" is an Old English prefix meaning "beneath" or "insufficiently," so "underperfecting" describes doing less than the full process of finishing something. The "-ing" ending turns the verb into a continuous action, or into a noun for that action.

Synonyms: neglecting, incompleting, underperforming

Antonyms: perfecting, completing, improving