incomplete

[ in-kuhm-pleet ]
/ ˌɪn kəmˈplit /

adjective

not complete; lacking some part.
Football. (of a forward pass) not completed; not caught by a receiver.
Engineering. noting a truss the panel points of which are not entirely connected so as to form a system of triangles. Compare complete(def 8), redundant(def 5c).
Logic, Philosophy.
  1. (of an expression or symbol) meaningful only in a specific context.
  2. (of a set of axioms) such that there is at least one true proposition (able to be formulated in terms of the basic ideas of a given system) that is not deducible from the set.Compare complete(def 7).

noun

Education. a temporary grade indicating that a student has not fulfilled one or more of the essential requirements for a course: If I don't hand in my term paper for last semester's English course, the professor is going to change my incomplete to an F.

Origin of incomplete

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Late Latin word incomplētus. See in-3, complete

OTHER WORDS FROM incomplete

in·com·plete·ly, adverb in·com·plete·ness, noun sub·in·com·plete, adjective

Example sentences from the Web for incompleteness

British Dictionary definitions for incompleteness

incomplete
/ (ˌɪnkəmˈpliːt) /

adjective

not complete or finished
not completely developed; imperfect
logic
  1. (of a formal theory) not so constructed that the addition of a non-theorem to the axioms renders it inconsistent
  2. (of an expression) not having a reference of its own but requiring completion by another expression

Derived forms of incomplete

incompletely, adverb incompleteness or incompletion, noun