pure
UK /ˈpjʊə/ · US /pjʊɹ/ adjective, adverb, verb, noun
Forms purer purest pures puring pured
- adjective Free of flaws or imperfections; unsullied.
- adjective Free of foreign material or pollutants.
- adjective Free of immoral behavior or qualities; clean.
- adjective Mere; that and that only. “That idea is pure madness!”
- adjective (of a branch of science) Done for its own sake instead of serving another branch of science.
- adjective (phonetics) Of a single, simple sound or tone; said of some vowels and the unaspirated consonants.
- adjective (of sound) Without harmonics or overtones; not harsh or discordant.
- adjective (programming) Having no side effects. “a pure method”
- adverb (Liverpool, Scotland) to a great extent or degree; extremely; exceedingly. “You’re pure busy.”
- verb (golf) To hit (the ball) completely cleanly and accurately. “Tiger Woods pured his first drive straight down the middle of the fairway.”
- verb (transitive, obsolete) To cleanse; to refine.
- noun One who, or that which, is pure.
Synonyms
pristine untouched virgin crude natural unrefined raw coarse unalloyed unmixed unprocessed untreated utter innocent chaste blameless clean clean-handed clean as a hound's tooth clean as a whistle arrant complete consummate double-dyed everlasting gross perfect sodding stark staring
Antonyms
dirty flawed impure imperfect tainted contaminated adulterated common corrupted mixed polluted sophisticated
Etymology
From Middle English pure, pur, from Old French pur, from Latin pūrus (“clean, free from dirt or filth, unmixed, plain”), from Proto-Indo-European *pewH- (“to cleanse, purify”). Displaced native Middle English lutter (“pure, clear, sincere”) (from Old English hlūtor, hluttor), Middle English skere (“pure, sheer, clear”) (from Old English scǣre and Old Norse skǣr), Middle English schir (“clear, pure”) (from Old English scīr), Middle English smete, smeate (“pure, refined”) (from Old English smǣte; compare Old English mǣre (“pure”)).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Separate from all heterogeneous or extraneous matter; free from mixture or combination; clean; mere; simple; unmixed; as, pure water; pure clay; pure air; pure compassion.
- adjective Free from moral defilement or quilt; hence, innocent; guileless; chaste; --applied to persons. "Keep thyself pure." 1 Tim. v. 22.
Etymology [OE. pur, F. pur, fr. L. purus; akin to putus pure, clear, putare to clean, trim, prune, set in order, settle, reckon, consider, think, Skr. p to clean, and perh. E. fire. Cf. Putative.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pure”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details