From Middle English defectif, defective, from Old French defectif, from Late Latin dēfectīvus.

• (British) IPA: /dɪˈfɛktɪv/

defective

1. Having one or more defects.

   Synonyms: faulty

   Antonyms: complete, perfect, undefective

2. (grammar, of a lexeme, especially a verb) Lacking some forms; e.g., having only one tense or being usable only in the third person.
3. (Arabic grammar, of a verb) Having a root whose final consonant is weak (ي, و, or ء).
4. (orthography, of a script) Not capable of representing all the phonemic distinctions of a language it is used to write.
5. (chiefly of abjad script) Spelled without matres lectionis, for example אמץ as opposed to the plene spelling אומץ where the letter vav ⟨ו⟩ indicates the vowel o.

   Antonyms: plene

• French: défectueux
• German: fehlerhaft, defekt
• Italian: difettoso
• Portuguese: defeituoso
• Russian: дефе́ктный
• Spanish: defectuoso

• French: défectif
• German: mangelhaft, unvollständig
• Italian: difettivo
• Portuguese: defectivo
• Russian: дефекти́вный
• Spanish: defectivo

defective (not comparable)

1. (chiefly of abjad script) Without matres lectionis (letters indicating vowels) written out.

   Antonyms: plene

   • 2013, Gregor Geiger, Plene Writing of the Qōṭēl Pattern in the Dead Sea Scrolls:

     For the sake of comparison, note the distribution of these spellings in some other Hebrew sources: in the MT the vowel o after the first consonant of the root is written defective in approximately 3,600 cases as against 850 cases of plene spelling.

defective (plural defectives)

1. A person or thing considered to be defective.
2. (chiefly of abjad script) A word written without matres lectionis (letters indicating vowels).

   Antonyms: plene

   • 2011, Christian D. Ginsburg, Jacob Ben Chajim Ibn Adonijah's Introduction to the Rabbinic Bible: Hebrew and English with Explanatory Notes:

     Thus, in the Pentateuch and in the earlier prophets the plenes are counted, whilst in the later prophets the defectives are enumerated.