purism

[pyoor-iz-uhm]

noun

1. strict observance of or insistence on purity in language, style, etc.

2. an instance of this.

3. Fine Arts.,  Often Purism a style of art developed in France in the early 20th century, characterized by the use of simple geometric forms and images evocative of objects produced by machine.

purism

/ ˈpjʊəˌrɪzəm /

noun

1. insistence on traditional canons of correctness of form or purity of style or content, esp in language, art, or music

Other Word Forms

• purist adjective
• puristically adverb
• puristic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of purism¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; pure + -ism

Example Sentences

On the right, this can take the form of conspiracies or authoritarian nostalgia; on the left, it may manifest as moral purism or ideological litmus tests.

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Stanford’s self-proclaimed ecological purism doesn’t mean he believes we should do away with nonnative species altogether, though.

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“It’s basically, whatever looks good. If something doesn’t look right, I’ll use a different material. I don’t like glass purism.”

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But Mr. Belafonte never embraced that sort of monarchical title, rejecting “purism” as a “cover-up for mediocrity” and explaining that he saw his work as a mash-up of musical styles.

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“There’s no point of having some kind of a revolutionary purism that you should only preach to the choir. That would be completely pointless,” Malm said.

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