purity
Americannoun
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the condition or quality of being pure; freedom from anything that debases, contaminates, pollutes, etc..
the purity of drinking water.
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freedom from any admixture or modifying addition.
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ceremonial or ritual cleanness.
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freedom from guilt or evil; innocence.
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physical chastity; virginity.
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freedom from foreign or inappropriate elements; careful correctness.
purity of expression.
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Optics. the chroma, saturation, or degree of freedom from white of a given color.
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cleanness or spotlessness, as of garments.
noun
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the state or quality of being pure
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physics a measure of the amount of a single-frequency colour in a mixture of spectral and achromatic colours
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of purity
1175–1225; < Late Latin pūritās ( see pure, -ity); replacing Middle English pur ( e ) te < Anglo-French < Late Latin, as above
Explanation
Something that exhibits purity hasn't been tainted by something morally or physically. Children, fresh snow, and solid gold are all known for their purity. Purity comes from the Latin purus meaning "clean, clear, unmixed, chaste." When you're talking about something that is clean and unmixed, you are talking about something characterized by purity. This can refer to someone's character or intentions. It can also describe an object or element. When you're high in the mountains, far from the city's congestion, the purity of the air is a relief to the lungs.
Vocabulary lists containing purity
'Tis A Gift To Be Simple: Words For National Simplicity Day
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A Single Shard
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"Why Couldn't I Have Been Named Ashley?"
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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.
De Palma paints pictures that don’t conflict so much as they coexist, like two sides of a coin — purity and debauchery, the real, politically sanctioned currencies of this country — fresh from the U.S.
From Salon • Jul. 4, 2026
By testing three YIG spheres with different levels of purity, the researchers found a clear pattern.
From Science Daily • Jul. 2, 2026
Iran has 972 pounds of uranium that is enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 14, 2026
But Blunt has committed herself with rare purity to the art.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026
Just at that moment, as Nivea would recall years later, in the midst of all that anxiety and silence, the voice of little Clara was heard in all its purity.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
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.
