perfect is the enemy of good
Detailed reference entry for the English word "perfect-is-the-enemy-of-good", 28-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Wiktionary, and usage frequency ranked against an open word-frequency list covering the top 100,000 English words. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "perfect-is-the-enemy-of-good" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "perfect-is-the-enemy-of-good" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
The verdict
“perfect is the enemy of good” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a proverb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 28
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) — Insistence on perfection often precludes the opportunity for something worthwhile.
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See how perfect is the enemy of good compares against similar English words.
Browse all word comparisons →| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | perfect is the enemy of good |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proverb |
| Letters | 28 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “perfect is the enemy of good” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for perfect is the enemy of good is 28 letters long, classified as a proverb. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No misspelling variants are generated for perfect is the enemy of good in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: A variant of the older the best is the enemy of the good, popularized by Voltaire in French as le mieux est l'ennemi du bien, itself a translation of the Italian proverb il meglio è nemico del bene. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is perfect is the enemy of good, spelled P-E-R-F-E-C-T- -I-S- -T-H-E- -E-N-E-M-Y- -O-F- -G-O-O-D, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1Insistence on perfection often precludes the opportunity for something worthwhile.
- 2Insistence on perfection precludes gradual improvement through compromises.
Etymology
A variant of the older the best is the enemy of the good, popularized by Voltaire in French as le mieux est l'ennemi du bien, itself a translation of the Italian proverb il meglio è nemico del bene.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
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PlainSpell, “perfect is the enemy of good, English word data” (May 6, 2026). Derived from Wiktionary (kaikki.org, CC BY-SA) and an open word-frequency list. https://plainspell.com/en/word/perfect-is-the-enemy-of-good
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Using “perfect is the enemy of good”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-E-R-F-E-C-T- -I-S- -T-H-E- -E-N-E-M-Y- -O-F- -G-O-O-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter P in our English index: