perfectionist

Etymology

It is formed from English perfection + -ist.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Perfection came into Middle English as perfeccioun^[3] from Old French perfection and Latin perfectiō,^[2][3] from perficiō (“to accomplish, finish”), formed from per (“completely”) and faciō (“to make, do”).^[3] The OED compares the earlier noun Perfectist, and for the modern sense French perfectionniste, recorded from 1846.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who believes that religious, moral, social or political perfection can be reached, or who claims to have reached it: 1653, in Querers and Quakers.^[2][3] Dictionary.com dates the word between 1650 and 1660.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word was first theological: Etymonline notes that the belief that a sinless life can be lived on earth has appeared at times among some Catholic communities, Arminian Methodists and the Society of Friends.^[3] Bartlett (1848) quoted Webster's definition, one who pretends to perfection, an enthusiast in religion, with a mocking Boston verse about a perfectionist "ready for heaven".^[7] In the United States, with a capital, it named the members of the utopian Christian community founded by John Humphrey Noyes at Putney, Vermont, later the Oneida Community (from 1834).^[2][6][4] The modern sense, a person satisfied only with the highest standards, is recorded from 1909 in the OED,^[2] but Etymonline dates it to 1934;^[3] the Shorter Oxford notes that it is often disparaging.^[4] The adjective is recorded in the doctrinal sense from about 1847, in Whittier, and as "demanding perfection" from 1942.^[2]

Timeline

• 1653 – a person who believes perfection can be attained, especially sinlessness in this life.^[2][3]
• 1834 – a member of the utopian community of John Humphrey Noyes, later at Oneida.^[2]
• c. 1847 – adjective, relating to the doctrine of perfectionism.^[2]
• 1909 – a person satisfied only with the highest standards.^[2] Etymonline dates this sense to 1934.^[3]
• 1942 – adjective, demanding perfection.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who is satisfied only with the highest standards and strives for, or demands, perfection: As a perfectionist, she rewrote the opening chapter nine times.^[8][6][2]
2. A believer in perfectionism, the doctrine that moral or spiritual perfection can be reached in this life.^[8][6][2]
3. (usually capitalized) A member of the Oneida Community or a similar religious community holding this doctrine.^[6][2][4]

Adjective

1. Demanding or seeking perfection: perfectionist parents.^[2][4]
2. Of or relating to perfectionism.^[8][2]

Word family

• perfectionistic

Related words

• perfectionism
• perfection
• perfect

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Bartlett, John Russell (1848), Dictionary of Americanisms, New York: Bartlett and Welford
8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins