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"A perfect circle" = an occasionally useful tautology.

"A less/more perfect circle" = a contradiction in terms.

As well as being tautologous, "a perfect circle" seems a contradiction in terms.

And if some people have the idea of a perfect circle, can the same people not also have the idea of an imperfect circle? There are two imperfect circles in Rachel's attachment. They can be described as less of a circle circles.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: <MikeyC>,

Here is the original question:

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Is it possible to use "more perfect" when describing an absolute state?

In the context of "an absolute state", "less perfect" does not have meaning, though "imperfect" and "less than perfect" do. If "less perfect" does not have meaning in the context of an "absolute state", neither does "more perfect".

In a non-absolute context, "less perfect" may have meaning; it may imply "close to perfection", for instance; or "perfect" itself may mean no more than "very good".

Thus picnics, constitutions, and (curiously) the inhabitants of Dante's Paradiso are gradably perfect; but perfect pitch, perfect scores, and the imaginary circles to which the definition of a circle applies are not.

MrP

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but perfect pitch, perfect scores, and the imaginary circles to which the definition of a circle applies are not.

So we can't say things such as "he has a less perfect pitch than he had five years ago/than his brother", right?