adj. 1. Of or being a verb tense used to express action completed before a specified or implied past time. 2. More than perfect; supremely accomplished; ideal: "He has won a reputation as [a] pluperfect bureaucrat" (New York Times). n. 1. The pluperfect tense, formed in English with the past participle of a verb and the auxiliary had, as had learned in the sentence He had learned to type by the end of the semester. Also called past perfect. 2. A verb or form in the pluperfect tense. [Middle English pluperfyth, alteration of Latin plūs quam perfectum, more than perfect : plūs, more; see pelə-1 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots + quam, than + perfectum, neuter past participle of perficere, to complete; see PERFECT.] |
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