purgative
Americanadjective
noun
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of purgative
1350–1400; < Late Latin pūrgātīvus ( see purgation, -ive); replacing Middle English purgatyf < Middle French < Late Latin, as above
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.
Taking out the trash is like administering a purgative to my house.
From Washington Post • Oct. 28, 2019
The last act of a Shakespearean tragedy always brings such purgative reckonings.
From The Guardian • Sep. 29, 2018
And this, too, felt like a purgative end to 2016.
From The New Yorker • Jan. 3, 2017
Dosed on Pepto Bismol for Quetzal’s Revenge after a week in the jungle, I didn’t think a purgative was necessary, nor, in the unreal surroundings, a hallucination.
From New York Times • Sep. 13, 2013
Bottles of rye, purgative waters and eaux for every conceivable toilette made a companionable click in his worn carpet bag.
From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison
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.
