Defective

How to spell defective

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce defective

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does defective mean?

1. adjectiveHaving a fault or flaw; not working properly or lacking some quality.

Defective in a sentence

• The shop refunded the defective kettle without any argument.

• A defective wire was blamed for the power failure in the office.

Where does defective come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word descends from the Latin defectivus, meaning 'imperfect' or 'lacking', which was built on the verb deficere, 'to fail, fall short, or be wanting'. That verb joined the prefix de-, meaning 'down' or 'away', with facere, 'to make or do', so the literal sense was something that had been 'made to fall short'. The same facere root sits inside a large family of English words, including 'perfect', 'effect', and 'factory', all of which keep the tell-tale 'fect' or 'fact' spelling. English took 'defective' in during the late 1300s, partly through Old French defectif and partly straight from the Latin, with the steady meaning of 'faulty' or 'imperfect'. Because the stressed middle syllable swallows the vowel sounds, writers sometimes hesitate over the ending, but the -ive suffix and the buried fect root keep the spelling regular once you see the connection to 'perfect'.

How the word is built

• de- (from, away)
• fect (from facere: to make, do)
• -ive (adjective suffix)