INCOMPLETE Synonyms: 33 Similar and Opposite Words

incomplete

adjective

ˌin-kəm-ˈplēt

Definition of incomplete

as in deficient

lacking some necessary part an incomplete puzzle that has several pieces missing

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of incomplete Maps can be incomplete, debris can move, and the next hazard may arrive from any direction at any time. — New Atlas, 11 Oct. 2026 Musk is a frequently compelling portrait of a complicated man but that portrait is incomplete in some crucial ways. — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 11 Oct. 2026 The University of Vermont team argues that framing is incomplete. — Hanna Wickes, Charlotte Observer, 9 Oct. 2026 In this respect, Rand said, Waddington’s picture was incomplete. — Quanta Magazine, 9 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for incomplete

Recent Examples of Synonyms for incomplete

Adjective

The travel investigation doesn't establish that the firm's engineering designs were deficient and nothing in the records independently establishes that the performance adjustment was improper.

— Tyler Horst, CBS News, 15 Oct. 2026
There’s lots of neutral hues available but the sunny yellow will brighten up any window-deficient bathroom.

— Audrey Lee, Architectural Digest, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of deficient

Adjective

Their role becomes clear at 21-, 36- and 52-Across, where the clues solve to partial entries, which can be completed only by using the entry spaces of those dash clues.

— Sam Corbin, New York Times, 13 Oct. 2026
Other partial successes include NATO’s intervention in Kosovo in 1999, in which a 78-day air campaign led Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw his forces.

— Justin Bronk, Foreign Affairs, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of partial

Adjective

The program offers discussions of financing and distribution, opportunities to present unfinished work and pitch projects, and meetings with industry representatives.

— Philip Martin, Arkansas Online, 13 Oct. 2026
In 1952, Rebay retired, and Sweeney was appointed director of the still unfinished galleries.

— Wendy S. Walters, Architectural Digest, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of unfinished

Adjective

Fastidious critics are left with nothing but crumbs to scatter on a trail of discussion leading to the door of a theatre, and readers have to extrapolate critics’ full opinions from the fragmentary account that could be written before release.

— Richard Brody, New Yorker, 15 Oct. 2026
Both also explore attempts to understand someone who is gone through fragmentary memory, using images as a bridge between the living and the dead.

— Taylor Antrim, Vogue, 19 Sep. 2026

Definition of fragmentary

Browse Nearby Words

incompetents

incomplete

incompletely

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“Incomplete.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incomplete. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of incomplete

adjective

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