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
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.
Purity is usually associated with ideas about cleanliness, sanctity or avoiding contamination – so finding that it is associated with negative views about wealth gives new meaning to the phrase “filthy rich.”
From Salon • Oct. 25, 2025
Purity, in political science, doesn’t have anything to do with morality.
From Slate • Mar. 12, 2024
Sixtyish Maggie Bird retired from the CIA under a cloud but has rebuilt a life for herself in Purity, Maine, raising chickens and communing with a group of CIA retirees, a.k.a the Martini Club.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 20, 2023
During the Ming dynasty, the emperor lived in the Palace of Heavenly Purity, while the empress lived nearby in the smaller Palace of Earthly Tranquility.
From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023
I went to Purity Supreme, wandering up and down the aisles, converting ounces to grams and comparing prices to things in England.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
