flawless
English
WOTD – 2 August 2020
Etymology
From flaw + -less (suffix meaning ‘without (something)’).[1]
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈflɔːləs/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈflɔləs/
Audio (GA) (file) - Rhymes: -ɔːləs
- Hyphenation: flaw‧less
Adjective
flawless (comparative more flawless, superlative most flawless)
- Without flaws, defects, or shortcomings; perfect.
- Synonyms: faultless, impeccable; see also Thesaurus:flawless
- Antonyms: flawed, flawful
- The pianist’s performance this evening was flawless.
- 1663, Robert Boyle, “To the Earl of Orrery, One of the Lords Justices of the Kingdom of Ireland, Lord President of the Province of Mounster, &c.”, in Some Considerations Touching the Style of the H[oly] Scriptures. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], OCLC 228723505:
- [W]hen I write of Sacred ſubjects, I had rather a Book of mine ſhould reſemble the Moon, which, though ſhe be but Small, leſs Elevated, and full of Imperfections, lends yet an Uſeful Light to Men, and produces here and there a Motion that obeys a Heavenly Influence; than a Star of the Firſt Magnitude, which though more High, more Vaſt, and more Flawleſs, ſhines only bright enough to make it Self Conſpicuous.
- 1883, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “A Catastrophe”, in Life on the Mississippi, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, OCLC 1166352534, page 245:
- Dr. Peyton, a principal physician, and rich in all the attributes that go to constitute high and flawless character, did all that educated judgment and trained skill could do for Henry; but, as the newspapers had said in the beginning, his hurts were past help.
- 1889, Mathilde Blind, “[Poems of the Open Air.] Reapers.”, in The Ascent of Man, London: Chatto & Windus, […], OCLC 1017374996, page 140:
- Not a single cloud mars the flawless azure; / Not a shadow moves o'er the moveless crops; [...]
- 1911, Bram Stoker, “The Chest Opened”, in The Lair of the White Worm, London: William Rider and Son, […], OCLC 249388067, page 114:
- Then he carefully examined the trunk, going over it with a magnifying glass. He found it intact: the steel bands were flawless; the whole trunk was compact into unity.
- 1999 January 2, William J[efferson] Clinton, “The President’s Radio Address”, in William J. Clinton: 1999 (In Two Books) (Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States), book I (January 1 to June 30, 1999), Washington, D.C.: Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration; United States Government Printing Office, published 2000, OCLC 617356238, page 1:
- I'm confident our military is ready to fulfill this mission today. Our troops continue to execute complex and dangerous missions far from home with flawless precision, as we've just seen in the Persian Gulf. Our challenge is to retain the ability to do this as we carry out our entire defense strategy.
- 2013 December 26, Phil McNulty, “Manchester City 2 – 1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 1 January 2019:
- City's victory was secured in first-half injury time when Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet made a hash of his attempt to keep out Alvaro Negredo's chip, ensuring Manuel Pellegrini's side kept their flawless home league record.
Derived terms
- flawlessly
- flawlessness
Related terms
- flaw
- flawed
- unflawed
Translations
without flaws — See also translations at perfect
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References
- “flawless, adj.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1896; “flawless, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Further reading
- flawless in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
- flawless in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913