defective
/dɪˈfɛktɪv
/adjective
1Imperfect or faulty: complaints over defective goods...
- The legislation, according to its critics, would have provided legal loopholes for those responsible for defective products, faulty construction and even criminal acts.
- Some buses examined by inspectors in the last year have been found to have defective steering, faulty brakes or even bald tyres.
- The list of faults included defective tyres, faulty brakes and defective steering.
Synonyms
faulty, flawed, imperfect, shoddy, inoperative, not working, not functioning, non-functioning, malfunctioning, out of order, unsound;
weak, deficient, incomplete;
in disrepair, broken, cracked, torn, scratched, deformed, warped, buckled
informal gone wrong, on the blink
British informal knackered, duff
1.1Lacking or deficient: dystrophin is commonly defective in muscle tissue...
- A genetic selection for mutants that activate this pathway uncovered a class of mutants defective in cell wall integrity.
- Mutants that grew on these plates were judged to be defective in glucose metabolism and were not studied further.
- A case study of cause-and-effect, it's also a yarn of dangerously defective brotherly love.
Synonyms
lacking, wanting, deficient, inadequate, insufficient, short, low, scant
1.2 Grammar (Of a word) not having all the inflections normal for the part of speech.
2 (also mentally defective) dated or offensive Having mental disabilities.
noun (also mental defective) dated or offensive
A person with mental disabilities.
Derivatives
defectively
/ adverb ...- The point of departure for reform is always an idea or institution that is affirmed but considered to have been imperfectly or defectively realized.
- The important thing to remember is that no expert ever said that this course was designed defectively and I don't think other clubs will be impacted by this decision.
- Thus if a building is constructed so defectively that it is of no use for its designed purpose the owner may have little difficulty in establishing that his loss is the necessary cost of reconstructing.
defectiveness
/ noun ...- There now exists a vast repository of images that make it harder to maintain this kind of moral defectiveness.
- Contrary to an occasionally voiced view, it is irrelevant whether the producer in question was in a position to recognise the defectiveness in his product.
- Of course, it may be easier to tell that the good or building is of a lesser quality if its defectiveness becomes manifest but this does not change the nature of the complaint.