adverb
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in a pure manner
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entirely
purely by chance
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in a chaste or innocent manner
Etymology
Origin of purely
First recorded in 1250–1300, purely is from the Middle English word purliche; see pure, -ly
Explanation
Anything described as purely is consistent or restricted in some way. Kids often think of their teachers purely as teachers and can’t imagine them outside the classroom. So they get purely confused when they see a teacher at the store. Something pure is made up of only one thing, like a pure gold ring. When anything is described as purely occurring or existing, it is similarly strict. A purely business-related letter is only business. A purely platonic friendship is not romantic at all. A purely bred dog has been bred only with dogs of the same breed. Someone who wants a dog purely for the sake of companionship will not bother with a purely bred dog.
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.
I used to feel so overwhelmed when deciding what to feed my guests, purely because I was making a straightforward task unnecessarily difficult.
From Salon • Jun. 21, 2026
If we're judging purely on YouTube views, there's only one winner at the time of writing.
From BBC • Jun. 19, 2026
Did your mother deposit any of her own money into this account, or was it purely your grandmother’s money?
From MarketWatch • Jun. 17, 2026
As a result, he injected levity into a role that could have come across as purely unsympathetic.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026
George Bancroft, one of the founders of American history, disagreed: the mounds, he wrote in 1840, were purely natural formations.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
