pure

[ pyoor ]

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.

Origin of pure

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English pur, from Old French, from Latin pūrus “clean, unmixed, plain, pure”

synonym study For pure

1. See clean.

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

Other words from pure

pureness, noun
hy·per·pure, adjective
hy·per·pure·ly, adverb
hy·per·pure·ness, noun
su·per·pure, adjective
un·pure, adjective
un·pure·ly, adverb
un·pure·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pure in a sentence

Desert Golfing is the distillation of Angry Birds into its purest essence.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art | Alec Kubas-Meyer | January 2, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
In 2012, he voted to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, one of the purest excresences of crony capitalism imaginable.
After Cochran’s Win: Red-State Socialism Must Be Stopped! | Nick Gillespie | June 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The sights and sounds of baseball at its purest signal that the nest in us has prevailed.
There is No Stealing in Baseball! | Michael Daly | April 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Graffiti, at its purest form, is illegal, going out, writing names on rooftops, trains, etc. for the sake of fame.
5 Pointz: When Graffiti Was King | Caitlin Dickson | November 24, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
The simplest and purest emotions that he feels are criminal.
Emmys 2013: ‘Downton Abbey’ Creator Julian Fellowes’s Favorite Season 3 Moments | Julian Fellowes | August 21, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST

This people worked, through legitimate channels, to advance its ideal, inspired by the purest loyalty to Spain.
The Philippine Islands | John Foreman
Even the purest selfishness would dictate a policy of social insurance.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice | Stephen Leacock
You look at a clear perfect rich colour, as it were, through the purest crystal.
Violins and Violin Makers | Joseph Pearce
The pleasure such meetings give is of the purest and wholesomest nature.
Journal of a Voyage to Brazil | Maria Graham
A rich, tender sunshine is streaming in through the windows, and gilding the stately edifice with the purest light.
Little Travels and Roadside Sketches | William Makepeace Thackeray

British Dictionary definitions for pure

pure

/ (pjʊə) /

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: pure 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

Origin of pure

C13: from Old French pur, from Latin pūrus unstained

Derived forms of pure

pureness, noun

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

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