pure
Americanadjective
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purer,
comparative
-
purest
superlative
-
free from anything of a different, inferior, or contaminating kind; free from extraneous matter.
pure gold;
pure water.
- Synonyms:
- immaculate, unstained, unalloyed, unadulterated, unmixed
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unmodified by an admixture; simple or homogeneous.
-
of unmixed descent or ancestry.
a pure breed of dog.
-
free from foreign or inappropriate elements.
pure Attic Greek.
-
clear; free from blemishes.
pure skin.
-
(of literary style) straightforward; unaffected.
-
abstract or theoretical (opposed to applied).
pure science.
-
without any discordant quality; clear and true.
pure tones in music.
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absolute; utter; sheer.
to sing for pure joy.
-
being that and nothing else; mere.
a pure accident.
-
clean, spotless, or unsullied.
pure hands.
-
untainted with evil; innocent.
pure in heart.
-
physically chaste; virgin.
-
ceremonially or ritually clean.
-
free of or without guilt; guiltless.
-
independent of sense or experience.
pure knowledge.
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Biology, Genetics.
-
containing only one characteristic for a trait.
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Phonetics. monophthongal.
adjective
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not mixed with any extraneous or dissimilar materials, elements, etc
pure nitrogen
-
free from tainting or polluting matter; clean; wholesome
pure water
-
free from moral taint or defilement
pure love
-
(prenominal) (intensifier)
pure stupidity
a pure coincidence
-
(of a subject, etc) studied in its theoretical aspects rather than for its practical applications Compare applied
pure mathematics
pure science
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(of a vowel) pronounced with more or less unvarying quality without any glide; monophthongal
-
(of a consonant) not accompanied by another consonant
-
of supposedly unmixed racial descent
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genetics biology breeding true for one or more characteristics; homozygous
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music
-
(of a sound) composed of a single frequency without overtones
-
(of intervals in the system of just intonation) mathematically accurate in respect to the ratio of one frequency to another
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Synonym Usage
See clean.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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hyperpurenessnoun
-
purenessnoun
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unpurenessnoun
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hyperpureadjective
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superpureadjective
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unpureadjective
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hyperpurelyadverb
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unpurelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of pure
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English pur, from Old French, from Latin pūrus “clean, unmixed, plain, pure”
Explanation
The adjective pure describes something that's made of only one substance and is not mixed with anything else. For example, your favorite soft, warm winter scarf might be made from pure merino wool. Anything that's uncontaminated by extra, unnecessary, or unclean substances is pure. You can swim in pure water or wear a necklace that's made of pure silver. Pure can also mean "complete" or "absolute," especially when it describes happiness. A religious meaning of pure is "free from sin", good or wholesome. The Latin word purus, "clean or unmixed," is the root of pure.
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.
See Examples For:
Another social media user called it "pure handmade" and the biggest "dark horse" of the summer movie season.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Mr. Pierre is solid, stolid superhero material; Mr. Chandler is pure mischief.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
"But what is special about MoM-BH*-1 is, the black hole star is essentially completely outshining its surrounding host galaxy, such that we're seeing pure black hole star light."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026
Investors are now looking for accelerating growth, he said, “not just pure price momentum.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
Moreover, he claimed to feel “no ill-will to Col. Burr, distinct from political opposition, which, as I trust, has proceeded from pure and upright motives.”
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
As researchers develop even purer magnetic materials, magnon lifetimes may continue to improve.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 2, 2026
Mr. Vance fulminates: “Never have I read a purer distillation of our worship at the altar of commerce.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
But it was LACMA’s CEO Michael Govan who persuaded him to preserve the purer approach.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 23, 2026
"The work that we're doing now is allowing us to create semiconductors up to 4,000 times purer in space than we can currently make here today," says Josh Western, CEO of Space Forge.
From BBC ● Dec. 30, 2025
Vincent writes, “Don’t worry about your wanton life, as you call it, just go quietly on your way. You’re purer than I, and will probably get there sooner and better.”
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
That’s the kind of animal electricity that points us toward our purest selves.
From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2026
"This work reflects a philosophy of chemistry that's designed to accelerate drug discovery in its purest form," says Moses.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
It’s the purest demonstration of what it means to bring together subjective lived experience and academic knowledge.
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
That sampler captured the band’s brand of thrash punk in its purest form.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026
"White! It's the purest white that can be found. Nobody makes a paint any whiter. This batch right here is heading for a national monument!"
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
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.
