on purpose
Idioms-
Deliberately, intentionally, as in He left the photo out of the story on purpose . Shakespeare's use of this idiom was among the earliest; it appears in The Comedy of Errors (4:3): “On purpose shut the doors against his way.”
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accidentally on purpose . Seemingly accidentally but actually deliberately, as in She stepped on his foot accidentally on purpose . This generally jocular phrase was first recorded in 1862.
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.
LOS ANGELES—It felt wrong, getting fingerprints on this brand-new MacBook screen on purpose.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
The filmmaking team went internal on purpose, and built a movie about a young man nobody remembers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
"Somebody has done that. You don't type up a letter with someone's address on it, address it to the trust and send it. I feel like it was done on purpose," she said.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
A recent study found that 38% of retirees have spent less than they wanted to, on purpose, just to keep their nest egg from shrinking.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 16, 2026
I mean, she gave me a wrong number on purpose!
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
