on purpose
Idioms-
Deliberately, intentionally, as in He left the photo out of the story on purpose . Shakespeare's use of this idiom was among the earliest; it appears in The Comedy of Errors (4:3): “On purpose shut the doors against his way.”
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accidentally on purpose . Seemingly accidentally but actually deliberately, as in She stepped on his foot accidentally on purpose . This generally jocular phrase was first recorded in 1862.
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.
“All the conveyor belts are broken,” said Suzy Welch, a management professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, at a recent symposium on purpose and flourishing.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026
This quote helps explain why Chelsea may have run less on purpose, particularly in the first part of the season.
From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026
NBA teams are increasingly losing games on purpose to improve their draft prospects and basketball must consider every possible remedy to stamp out deliberate "tanking," the league's chief said Saturday.
From Barron's • Feb. 14, 2026
Once you see “special” as something you can make on purpose, it stops feeling rare or fragile.
From Salon • Feb. 10, 2026
She should have known Chicken wouldn’t hurt someone on purpose.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
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.
