as in imperfect
having a fault
promptly took the defective microwave oven back to the store for a replacement
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of defective
Despite knowing the product was defective and replicating customers’ explosions in tests, Sunbeam and its parent company, Newell, told the Consumer Product Safety Commission that the product didn’t need to be recalled and that user error was causing the issue.
—
Sponsored Content, The Denver Post, 28 Feb. 2025
If either the hypothalamus or pituitary gland is damaged or defective, estrogen and testosterone levels will drop.
—James Myhre & Dennis Sifris, Md, Verywell Health, 27 Feb. 2025
The toddlers were treated using gene therapy, through which patients are given a harmless virus containing healthy versions of a defective gene in order to remedy the problem.
—David Prosser, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2025
Put side by side with the Chrome extension, MacKeeper’s Safari extension looks defective.
—PCMAG, 24 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for defective
Sponsored Content, The Denver Post, 28 Feb. 2025
If either the hypothalamus or pituitary gland is damaged or defective, estrogen and testosterone levels will drop.
—James Myhre & Dennis Sifris, Md, Verywell Health, 27 Feb. 2025
The toddlers were treated using gene therapy, through which patients are given a harmless virus containing healthy versions of a defective gene in order to remedy the problem.
—David Prosser, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2025
Put side by side with the Chrome extension, MacKeeper’s Safari extension looks defective.
—PCMAG, 24 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for defective
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defective
Adjective
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This approval—for Tesla’s imperfect $99-a-month technology and other AV systems—could come as early as next year.—
Carlton Reid,
Forbes.com,
26 May 2025
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Interest has risen in wild, imperfect lawn alternatives, including tapestry lawns, made up of low-growing and colorful plants that require little or no mowing (up 16%), and no-mow meadows of native grasses (up 12%).—
Mike Snider,
USA Today,
26 May 2025
Adjective
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If Americans were working longer to stave off poverty, then a rising retirement age would be a bad thing, said Andrew Biggs, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA Today,
23 May 2025
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Glorifying motherhood, meanwhile, in practical terms, may only make mothers’ daily lives worse.—
Lily Meyer,
The Atlantic,
23 May 2025
Adjective
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State auditors later concluded in October 2017 that the district, under Woodard’s leadership, had not only improperly authorized charter schools outside its boundaries but had conducted flawed oversight and reviews of charter petitions.—
Kristen Taketa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
25 May 2025
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Even flawed testing provides valuable information — including how tests might be better written.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
22 May 2025
Adjective
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The cause of the blaze has not been determined, but the company has acknowledged that it may have been sparked by a faulty dormant power line operated by Edison.—
Caroline Petrow-Cohen,
Los Angeles Times,
22 May 2025
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The Trump team's faulty command of the facts has at times been painfully obvious.—
Simon Shuster,
Time,
22 May 2025
Adjective
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As protesters attempted to stop the congressional certification of the 2020 presidential election, Babbitt was climbing through the broken window of a barricaded door to the Speaker’s Lobby when she was shot.—
City News Service,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
21 May 2025
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Simpson crashed in late August — weeks after another biker crashed in the same area and suffered a brain bleed, head laceration and broken collarbone, among other injuries.—
Sarah Cutler,
Idaho Statesman,
21 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Defective.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defective. Accessed 2 Jun. 2025.
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