Practice makes perfect

Cultural

Doing something over and over makes one better at it.

practice makes perfect Idioms

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.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Vince Lombardi established the importance of this when he observed practice doesn’t make perfect, only perfect practice makes perfect.

From The Wall Street Journal

To see a former Los Angeles-area high school football player take charge of an aircraft carrier is proof that all that running to gain stamina, all that preaching to work together as a team, all those lectures that practice makes perfect … it’s true.

From Los Angeles Times

So far, practice makes perfect.

From Los Angeles Times

For the the second goal, it was a case of practice makes perfect.

From BBC

Call it chemistry, call it instinct, or maybe practice makes perfect.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023