Meanings
- Used when someone's mistakes or flaws are acknowledged, to remind that everyone else makes mistakes and has flaws.
2000, Madonna, Nobody's Perfect I feel so sad. What I did wasn't right. I feel so bad and I must say to you: Sorry, but nobody's perfect. Nobody's perfect. What did you expect? I'm doing my best
2 more examples
1958, Some Like It Hot, film by Billy Wilder, starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, and Marilyn Monroe. When Jerry (Jack Lemmon) disguised as "Daphne" tries to fend off Osgood Fielding's insistent proposals of marriage with one excuse after another with no success, he finally yanks off his wig wig and shouts, "I'm a man!" to which Osgood amiably replies, Well, nobody's perfect.
Hypocrisy, particularly in sexual matters, is excused on the grounds that hey, nobody's perfect, and at least folks back then felt bad enough to lie.
1995, New York Magazine Vol. 28, No. 5, 30 January 1995, The de-moralization of society (Book Review)Synonyms: we all make mistakes
Synonyms & antonyms
phraseUsed when someone's mistakes or flaws are acknowledged, to remind that everyone else makes mistakes and has flaws.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 人無完人 /人无完人, 人非聖賢，孰能無過 /人非圣贤
- 人無完人 /人无完人 (rén wú wánrén)phrase to remind that we all fail at times
- 人非聖賢，孰能無過 /人非圣贤phrase to remind that we all fail at times
- 孰能无过 (rén fēi shèngxián, shú néng wú guò)phrase to remind that we all fail at times
Danish ingen er perfekt
- ingen er perfektphrase to remind that we all fail at times
Finnish kukaan ei ole täydellinen
- kukaan ei ole täydellinenphrase to remind that we all fail at times
French nul n'est parfait
- nul n'est parfaitphrase to remind that we all fail at times
German niemand ist perfekt
- niemand ist perfektphrase to remind that we all fail at times
Hindi कोई भी पूर्ण नहीं है
- कोई भी पूर्ण नहीं है (koī bhī pūrṇ nahī̃ hai)phrase to remind that we all fail at times
Indonesian tiada yang sempurna, bumi mana yang tidak ditimpa hujan
- tiada yang sempurnaphrase to remind that we all fail at times
- bumi mana yang tidak ditimpa hujanphrase to remind that we all fail at times
Japanese 完全無欠な人はいない
- 完全無欠な人はいない (kanzen muketsu na hito wa inai)phrase to remind that we all fail at times
Malay bumi mana yang tidak ditimpa hujan
- bumi mana yang tidak ditimpa hujanphrase to remind that we all fail at times
Polish nikt nie jest doskonały
- nikt nie jest doskonałyphrase to remind that we all fail at times
Portuguese ninguém é perfeito
- ninguém é perfeitophrase to remind that we all fail at times
Russian никто́ не соверше́нен
- никто́ не соверше́нен (niktó ne soveršénen)phrase to remind that we all fail at times
Spanish nadie es perfecto
- nadie es perfectophrase to remind that we all fail at times
Swedish ingen är perfekt, även solen har sina fläckar
- ingen är perfektphrase to remind that we all fail at times
- även solen har sina fläckarphrase to remind that we all fail at times
Tagalog walang perpekto, tao lang, nagkakamali
- walang perpektophrase to remind that we all fail at times
- tao lang, nagkakamaliphrase to remind that we all fail at times
Turkish herkes hata yapar
- herkes hata yaparphrase to remind that we all fail at times
Cite this entry
nobody's perfect. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nobody's%20perfect
“nobody's perfect.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nobody's%20perfect. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nobody's perfect,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nobody's%20perfect.
Source: nobody's perfect on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.