purgative
Americanadjective
noun
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of purgative
1350–1400; < Late Latin pūrgātīvus ( see purgation, -ive); replacing Middle English purgatyf < Middle French < Late Latin, as above
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.
Theater makes much of the element of catharsis, but rarely is a show purgative all the way through, as the choreopoem “Queens of Sheba” is.
From New York Times ● Jan. 12, 2024
Taking out the trash is like administering a purgative to my house.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 28, 2019
And this, too, felt like a purgative end to 2016.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 3, 2017
I knew that my impulsive behavior was sparked by the emotional energy I had just absorbed from Pud’s funeral, and somehow I felt this a necessary finale, or purgative.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 9, 2015
The doctor had given him a purgative and left.
From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
