pure
Americanadjective
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free from anything of a different, inferior, or contaminating kind; free from extraneous matter.
pure gold;
pure water.
- Synonyms:
- immaculate, unstained, unalloyed, unadulterated, unmixed
-
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.
-
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.
-
Biology, Genetics.
-
containing only one characteristic for a trait.
-
Phonetics. monophthongal.
adjective
-
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
-
(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
-
genetics biology breeding true for one or more characteristics; homozygous
-
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
-
Synonym Usage
See clean.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
hyperpurenessnoun
-
purenessnoun
-
unpurenessnoun
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hyperpureadjective
-
superpureadjective
-
unpureadjective
-
hyperpurelyadverb
-
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:
I’ve been in search of that my entire life—not the attention my dad received but the pure emotional connection between an artist and audience.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
But during these trying times, Lawson’s revamped Caesar salad is pure genius.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
Combining a multitude of African dance styles, comedy and pure joy, they soon caught the attention of Ugandan musicians including Eddy Kenzo, who asked them to feature in some of his videos.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
And yet fans suspend their cynicism for a few hours — for a tournament, for a season — because they know that the communion that soccer offers is pure and holy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Kermit didn’t believe Rondon’s intentions were pure, either.
From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple
The purer the crystal, the longer the magnons survived.
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
There, in microgravity, the miniature labs grow molecular crystals that are purer than those produced in Earth’s gravity for use in pharmaceuticals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 4, 2026
Kurita and Organo are purer plays on fab buildouts; Ecolab still makes most of its money keeping restaurant kitchens sanitary, while Xylem sells a lot of municipal pumps.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 12, 2025
Perhaps not as strong as the actual mutts, but purer, because it’s not competing with sewage and explosives.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
"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
Music is perhaps the purest of these art forms, tapping into our lizard brains to regulate our emotions that are seeking to make sense of this precious yet maddening existence.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 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
This is Christmas spirit in its purest form.
From "I Am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak
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.
