Definition of pluperfect

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< plunk

plural >

plu·per·fect    (pl-pûrfkt) KEY 

ADJECTIVE:

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).

NOUN:

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.

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ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English pluperfyth, alteration of Latin pls quam perfectum, more than perfect : pls, more; see pel-¹ in Indo-European roots + quam, than + perfectum, neuter past participle of perficere, to complete ; see perfect