practice makes perfect
proverb Practicing or repeatedly doing something will make one become proficient or skillful at it. A: "I just can't seem to get the rhythm of this song quire right." B: "Keep at it—practice makes perfect!" You can't expect to start a new sport and be amazing at it right away. As is always the case, practice makes perfect.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
Practice makes perfect.
Prov. Cliché Doing something over and over again is the only way to learn to do it well. Jill: I'm not going to try to play the piano anymore. I always make so many mistakes. Jane: Don't give up. Practice makes perfect. Child: How come you're so good at peeling potatoes? Father: I did it a lot in the army, and practice makes perfect.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
practice makes perfect
Frequently doing something makes one better at doing it, as in I've knit at least a hundred sweaters, but in my case practice hasn't made perfect. This proverbial expression was once put as Use makes mastery, but by 1560 the present form had become established.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
practice makes perfect
COMMON People say practice makes perfect to mean that if you practise something enough, you will eventually be able to do it perfectly. It is like learning to ride a bike. You may fall off a few times but practice makes perfect.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
practice makes perfect
regular exercise of an activity or skill is the way to become proficient in it.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
ˌpractice makes ˈperfect
(saying) a way of encouraging people by telling them that if you do an activity regularly you will become very good at it: If you want to learn a language, speak it as much as you can. Practice makes perfect!Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
practice makes perfect
The more one does something, the better at it one becomes. This ancient proverb began as use makes perfect. In English it dates from the fifteenth century but probably was a version of a much older Latin proverb. It exists in many languages, so presumably most people agree. Ralph Waldo Emerson almost did: “Practice is nine-tenths,” he wrote (Conduct of Life: Power, 1860). An English writer in the Spectator of May 10, 1902, differed: “Practice never makes perfect. It improves up to a point.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer