flawless
to be without mistakes
TRANSLATION
lupenrein, makellos, ohne Fehler, tadellos
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
There is a lovely story concerning the ex-Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew, who incidentally spoke FLAWLESS English.
Many years ago he was invited to a dinner of distinguished academics at Oxford University. Lee was silent during the meal, but a professor sitting at his side tried some small talk during the first course: "You likee soupee soupee?" he asked Lee. Lee just smiled.
At the end of the meal Lee stood up and gave an amusing speech in perfect English; as he sat down he turned to his neighbour and asked: "You likee speechee speechee?"
Many years ago he was invited to a dinner of distinguished academics at Oxford University. Lee was silent during the meal, but a professor sitting at his side tried some small talk during the first course: "You likee soupee soupee?" he asked Lee. Lee just smiled.
At the end of the meal Lee stood up and gave an amusing speech in perfect English; as he sat down he turned to his neighbour and asked: "You likee speechee speechee?"
Did you
know?
flaw
= mistake
Middle English flaue, splinter, perhaps from Old Norse flaga, slab of stone
1. An imperfection, often concealed, that impairs soundness:
"a flaw in the crystal that caused it to break"
2. A defect or shortcoming in something intangible:
"They share the character flaw of arrogance"
3. A defect in a legal document that can make it invalid.
"The contract contains a flaw in paragraph 7"
Synonyms: blemish, imperfection, fault, defect, flaw
All these nouns denote loss or absence of perfection.
--
A BLEMISH is something thought to spoil the appearance or character of a thing:
"The rare postage stamp was spoilt by a small printing blemish " (James McNeill Whistler).
--
IMPERFECTION and FAULT apply more comprehensively to any deficiency or
shortcoming:
"Small imperfections in our speech can be quite charming"
"Helping people to see and admit their own faults is generally better than telling them directly"
--
DEFECT denotes a serious functional or structural shortcoming:
"A defect in the engine caused it to break down"
--
FLAW refers to an often small but always fundamental weakness:
"Experiments revealed a very basic flaw in the theory"
Adapted from:
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
flawless = without mistakes, perfect
= mistake
Middle English flaue, splinter, perhaps from Old Norse flaga, slab of stone
1. An imperfection, often concealed, that impairs soundness:
"a flaw in the crystal that caused it to break"
2. A defect or shortcoming in something intangible:
"They share the character flaw of arrogance"
3. A defect in a legal document that can make it invalid.
"The contract contains a flaw in paragraph 7"
Synonyms: blemish, imperfection, fault, defect, flaw
All these nouns denote loss or absence of perfection.
--
A BLEMISH is something thought to spoil the appearance or character of a thing:
"The rare postage stamp was spoilt by a small printing blemish " (James McNeill Whistler).
--
IMPERFECTION and FAULT apply more comprehensively to any deficiency or
shortcoming:
"Small imperfections in our speech can be quite charming"
"Helping people to see and admit their own faults is generally better than telling them directly"
--
DEFECT denotes a serious functional or structural shortcoming:
"A defect in the engine caused it to break down"
--
FLAW refers to an often small but always fundamental weakness:
"Experiments revealed a very basic flaw in the theory"
Adapted from:
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
flawless = without mistakes, perfect
