perfect is the enemy of good

This proverb highlights the pitfalls of aiming for perfection at the expense of achieving something sufficiently good and practical.

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Definition

(informal)Aiming for flawlessness can prevent the accomplishment of tasks that are adequately good.

She spent so much time perfecting her essay that she missed the deadline; truly, perfect is the enemy of good.

(informal)Striving for an ideal can delay or stop the completion of effective solutions.

In software development, perfect is the enemy of good when updates are delayed for minor tweaks.

Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "perfect is the enemy of good":