That is perfect to which nothing can be added, and from which nothing can be taken without impairing its excellence, marring its symmetry, or detracting from its worth; in this fullest sense God alone is perfect, but in a limited sense anything may be perfect in its kind; as a perfect flower; a copy of a document is perfect when it is accurate in every particular; a vase may be called perfect when entire and unblemished, even tho not artistically faultless; the best judges never pronounce a work of art perfect, because they see always ideal possibilities not yet attained; even the ideal is not perfect, by reason of the imperfection of the human mind; a human character faultlessly holy would be morally perfect tho finite. That which is absolute is free from admixture (as absolute alcohol) and in the highest and fullest sense free from imperfection or limitation; as, absolute holiness and love are attributes of God alone. In philosophical language, absolute signifies free from all necessary, or even from all possible relations, not dependent or limited, unrelated and unconditioned; truth immediately known, as intuitive truth, is absolute; God, as self-existent and free from all limitation or dependence, is called the absolute Being, or simply the Absolute. Compare [INNOCENT]; [INFINITE]; [RADICAL].
Antonyms:
| bad, | defective, | imperfect, | meager, | scant, |
| blemished, | deficient, | incomplete, | perverted, | short, |
| corrupt, | deformed, | inferior, | poor, | spoiled, |
| corrupted, | fallible, | insufficient, | ruined, | worthless. |
| defaced, | faulty, | marred, | ||
PERMANENT.
Synonyms:
| abiding, | enduring, | lasting, | steadfast, |
| changeless, | fixed, | perpetual, | unchangeable, |
| constant, | immutable, | persistent, | unchanging. |
| durable, | invariable, | stable, | |
Durable (L. durus, hard) is said almost wholly of material substances that resist wear; lasting is said of either material or immaterial things. Permanent is a word of wider meaning; a thing is permanent which is not liable to change; as, a permanent color; buildings upon a farm are called permanent improvements. Enduring is a higher word, applied to that which resists both time and change; as, enduring fame.