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.
She’s also central to the female-empowerment sentiment of the series, to which Rapp is a kind of purgative.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
The most thrilling set piece features a purgative ritual that Cervera executes with a dance choreographer’s sense of movement and a gothic artist’s eye for composition.
From New York Times ● Jun. 8, 2022
The juxtaposition of such a technologically enabled act — I recorded, therefore I was — and the most basic and purgative of elements invites irony where it is least wanted.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 16, 2018
And this, too, felt like a purgative end to 2016.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 3, 2017
Rufus had poured the purgative into his chamber pot and ordered me to tell his father he’d taken it.
From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
