perfectible

[ per-fek-tuh-buh l ]

/ pərˈfɛk tə bəl /

capable of becoming or of being made perfect; improvable.

Origin of perfectible

1625–35; < French < Medieval Latin perfectibilis. See perfect, -ible

per·fect·i·bil·ist, noun per·fect·i·bil·i·ty, noun non·per·fect·i·bil·i·ty, noun non·per·fect·i·ble, adjective

self-per·fect·i·bil·i·ty, noun un·per·fect·i·ble, adjective

We in our land of optimists like to believe our species is perfectible.

In Syria, Europe & Boston, the Past Is Never Finished |Kati Marton |May 11, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
Neither markets nor government are perfectible; the best we're going to get is ones that work pretty well most of the time.

Chasing the Tails |Megan McArdle |November 8, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
Hence he is perfectible through nature, and merely conforms to nature in improving his mind and in bettering his condition.

The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 1 (of 6) |Hippolyte A. Taine
You pretend man's perfectible, that woman's got a capacity for disinterested self-sacrifice.

Sonia Between two Worlds |Stephen McKenna

But as man is perfectible this condition of things cannot last.

The Radicalism of Shelley and Its Sources |Daniel J. MacDonald
The Mennonites believed that man was essentially depraved; Ballou believed that he was perfectible.

Introduction to Non-Violence |Theodore Paullin
Man is not a perfectible animal; not on this side of eternity.

Egoists |James Huneker

perfectible

/ (pəˈfɛktəbəl) /

capable of becoming or being made perfect

perfectibility, noun