pure

[ pyoor ]

/ pyʊər /

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See synonyms for: pure / purest / pureness on Thesaurus.com

adjective, pur·er, pur·est.

free from anything of a different, inferior, or contaminating kind; free from extraneous matter: pure gold;pure water.

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.

homozygous.
containing only one characteristic for a trait.

Phonetics. monophthongal.

OTHER WORDS FOR pure

1 unmixed, unadulterated, unalloyed, uncontaminated, untainted, unstained, undefiled, untarnished, immaculate, unpolluted, uncorrupted.

12 modest, virtuous, undefiled.

See synonyms for pure on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

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Question 1 of 10

Which of the following words means “to make a crackling sound; crackle”?

crisp

crepitate

fuscous

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Origin of pure

1250–1300; Middle English pur<Old French <Latin pūrus clean, unmixed, plain, pure

synonym study for pure

1. See clean.

OTHER WORDS FROM pure

pureness, nounhy·per·pure, adjectivehy·per·pure·ly, adverbhy·per·pure·ness, noun

su·per·pure, adjectiveun·pure, adjectiveun·pure·ly, adverbun·pure·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use pure in a sentence

The debasing of the currency in the fire’s aftermath — the proportion of pure silver in Roman coinage at one stage fell to 80 percent — also alarmed them.
What was Nero really doing while Rome burned?|Diana Preston|November 20, 2020|Washington Post
Kemp’s all-night coverage was public service journalism in its purest form.
Robin Kemp lost her news job in Clayton County, Ga. — but she kept reporting the news. It paid off on election week.|Reis Thebault|November 10, 2020|Washington Post
They keep membership secret to reinforce the notion that the books are a pure expression of mathematics as it is, not an individual’s take on the topic.
Inside the Secret Math Society Known Simply as Nicolas Bourbaki|Kevin Hartnett|November 9, 2020|Quanta Magazine
Pillows and duvets from the Swedish brand, founded in 1852, are made from top-of-the-line pure goose down, with its own built-in ventilation system that helps the feathers breathe.
Home-improvement gifts|Rachel King|November 8, 2020|Fortune

Soon, he said, the company would have a car that runs on batteries with pure silicon anodes to boost their performance and reduced cobalt in the cathodes to lower their price.
Carmakers want to ditch battery packs, use auto bodies for energy storage|WIRED|November 8, 2020|Ars Technica
The stillness of the evening and the pureness of the air made a silent accompaniment to Gerda's beautiful voice.
Katharine Frensham|Beatrice Harraden
And what increases The wonder, sir, her body's matchless form Is better'd by the pureness of her soul.
The Plays of Philip Massinger|Philip Massinger
When I came to eleven years of age I knew pureness and righteousness; for while a child I was taught how to walk to be kept pure.
George Fox|George Fox
And then he goes on to what he justly calls "the other great Christian virtue, Pureness."
Matthew Arnold|G. W. E. Russell
Wisdom is more moving than any motion; she passeth and goeth through all things by reason of her pureness.
Cambridge Essays on Education|Various

British Dictionary definitions for pure

pure

/ (pjʊə) /

adjective

not mixed with any extraneous or dissimilar materials, elements, etcpure nitrogen

free from tainting or polluting matter; clean; wholesomepure water

free from moral taint or defilementpure love

(prenominal) (intensifier)pure stupidity; a pure coincidence

(of a subject, etc) studied in its theoretical aspects rather than for its practical applicationspure mathematics; pure science Compare applied

(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

Derived forms of pure

pureness, noun

Word Origin for pure

C13: from Old French pur, from Latin pūrus unstained

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medical definitions for pure

pure

[ pyur ]

adj.

Having a homogeneous or uniform composition; not mixed.

Free from adulterants or impurities.

Produced by self-fertilization or continual inbreeding; homozygous.

pure

OTHER WORDS FOR pure

Origin of pure

synonym study for pure

OTHER WORDS FROM pure

Words related to pure

How to use pure in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pure

Derived forms of pure

Word Origin for pure

Medical definitions for pure