half-finished
Left midway through
Half-finished describes something incomplete, stopped partway through its creation or execution: a half-finished novel gathering dust in a drawer, half-finished plates of food.
The term implies abandonment or interruption rather than ongoing work—what's half-finished has stalled, not paused.
Favoring one side
- uncompletedNot brought to conclusion
- fragmentaryConsisting of incomplete parts
- undevelopedNot fully formed
- roughUneven in surface
sketchy · rudimentary · unpolished · crude · unrefined · raw · patchy · lacking
Deferred or stored away
- stalledStopped unexpectedly
- suspendedHalted or hanging temporarily
- neglectedNot given proper attention
- discardedGotten rid of
forgotten · dormant · languishing · mothballed · sidelined · dropped · ditched · scrapped
Temporary, improvised substitute
- stopgapTemporary substitute measure
- provisionalConditional and possibly temporary
- improvisedCreated without prior planning
- ad-hocFor a specific purpose
patchwork · band-aid · jury-rigged · cobbled · kludge · workaround · placeholder · interim
partial
Favoring one side
- uncompletedNot brought to conclusion
- fragmentaryConsisting of incomplete parts
- undevelopedNot fully formed
rough · sketchy · rudimentary · unpolished · crude · unrefined · raw · patchy · lacking · deficient
shelved
Deferred or stored away
- stalledStopped unexpectedly
- suspendedHalted or hanging temporarily
- neglectedNot given proper attention
discarded · forgotten · dormant · languishing · mothballed · sidelined · dropped · ditched · scrapped · tabled
makeshift
Temporary, improvised substitute
- stopgapTemporary substitute measure
- provisionalConditional and possibly temporary
- improvisedCreated without prior planning
ad-hoc · patchwork · band-aid · jury-rigged · cobbled · kludge · workaround · placeholder · interim · preliminary
promising
Showing signs of success
incipient · embryonic · germinating · forming · developing · unfolding · evolving · maturing · ripening · brewing
underway
Currently in progress
continuing · partway · headway · momentum · milestone · checkpoint · phase · stage · step · leg