simon-pure

[ sahy-muhn-pyoor ]
See synonyms for simon-pure on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. real; genuine: a simon-pure accent.

Origin of simon-pure

1
1710–20; short for the real Simon Pure, alluding to the victim of impersonation in Susanna Centlivre's play A Bold Stroke for a Wife (1718)

Words Nearby simon-pure

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use simon-pure in a sentence

  • Midway between trade unionism and the simon-pure, idealistic reform philosophies stood producers' and consumers' cooperation.

  • There was one old chap in the town—Bill Budlong—who took a heap of pride in being the simon pure cuss.

  • A bunch of simon-pure tenderfeet strayed into the mountains west of here a couple of summers ago.

    North of Fifty-Three | Bertrand W. Sinclair
  • All these truthful sayings have been preserved as proverbs simply because they are simon pure truths.

    Dollars and Sense | Col. Wm. C. Hunter
  • This man does not get in over four or five hours' simon pure hard work in a day.

    Dollars and Sense | Col. Wm. C. Hunter

British Dictionary definitions for simon-pure

simon-pure

adjective
  1. real; genuine; authentic

Origin of simon-pure

1
C19: from the phrase the real Simon Pure, name of a character in the play A Bold Stroke for a Wife (1717) by Susannah Centlivre (1669–1723) who is impersonated by another character in some scenes

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with simon-pure

simon-pure

Absolutely genuine, quite authentic, as in That laboratory test was simon pure; none of the specimens was adulterated. This expression comes from the name of a character in a play, Susannah Centilivre's A Bold Stroke for a Wife (1717), who is the victim of an impersonation but turns up in the end and proves that he is “the real Simon Pure.”

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.