on purpose

1. 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.

2. 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.”

Example Sentences

In some cases, they are reportedly keeping some units off-market on purpose.

From Salon

"It's like why we close our eyes when we sneeze - things we don't do on purpose but our body does to respond to a situation," she says.

From BBC

"The airstrike was carried out on purpose. Everyone knew we were there. All the cars were labelled as press and TV. There wasn't even a warning given to us."

From BBC

“There can be litigation. There can be delays. There will be a lot of misinformation, some of it spread on purpose,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times

Vance has previously admitted to making up or exaggerating stories on purpose to suit the narrative of his campaign, including a lie he promoted about Haitian immigrants in Ohio eating local pets.

From Salon