purblind

American  

[pur-blahynd] / ˈpɜrˌblaɪnd /

adjective

1. nearly or partially blind; dim-sighted.

2. slow or deficient in understanding, imagination, or vision.

3. Obsolete. totally blind.

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purblind British  

/ ˈpɜːˌblaɪnd /

adjective

1. partly or nearly blind

2. lacking in insight or understanding; obtuse

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Related Words

See blind.

Other Word Forms

• purblindly adverb
• purblindness noun

Etymology

Origin of purblind

1250–1300; Middle English pur blind completely blind; pure (in obsolete adv. sense), blind

Explanation

If you're purblind, you aren't able to see very well. This word is also used figuratively to describe someone who lacks insight or good judgment, like your purblind uncle who always gives foolish advice. These days, it's quite old-fashioned to describe someone as purblind, although you may come across the word in old books. When it first appeared around 1300, it was two words, pur blind (possibly from pure) and it meant "entirely blind." Later, it was used to mean "a blind person," and then "partially blind" — like your elderly, purblind poodle, who has become almost entirely dependent on her sense of smell.

Example Sentences

When governments and their advisers are, as matter of course, using AI to improve their decision-making, expect fewer purblind, tunnel-visioned strategic decisions based on wishful thinking.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

The ECB's purblind refusal to reveal anything about the trip, as if it involved some top-secret military manoeuvres rather than just some abseiling and hiking, has goaded the media into a suspicious reaction.

From The Guardian • Oct. 19, 2010

If anyone can answer all the questions without finding something to own up to, Father Wilson thinks that he must be either "a saint or spiritually purblind."

From Time Magazine Archive

Those advantages become troubles as soon as the purblind wearer moves around or deals with moving objects.

From Time Magazine Archive

They pass hard, legitimate judgments, unlike the purblind guesses of men, fogged with romanticism and ignorance and bias and wish.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood