pure

[ pyoor ]

adjective

, pur·er, pur·est.

1. free from anything of a different, inferior, or contaminating kind; free from extraneous matter:

   pure gold;

   pure water.

   Synonyms: immaculate, unstained, unalloyed, unadulterated, unmixed

2. unmodified by an admixture; simple or homogeneous.
3. of unmixed descent or ancestry:

   a pure breed of dog.

4. free from foreign or inappropriate elements:

   pure Attic Greek.

5. clear; free from blemishes:

   pure skin.

6. (of literary style) straightforward; unaffected.
7. abstract or theoretical ( applied ):

   pure science.

8. without any discordant quality; clear and true:

   pure tones in music.

9. absolute; utter; sheer:

   to sing for pure joy.

10. being that and nothing else; mere:

    a pure accident.

11. clean, spotless, or unsullied:

    pure hands.

12. untainted with evil; innocent:

    pure in heart.

    Synonyms: virtuous, modest

13. physically chaste; virgin.
14. ceremonially or ritually clean.
15. free of or without guilt; guiltless.
16. independent of sense or experience:

    pure knowledge.

17. Biology, Genetics.
    1. homozygous ( def ).
    2. containing only one characteristic for a trait.
18. Phonetics. monophthongal ( def ).

pure

/ pjʊə /

adjective

1. not mixed with any extraneous or dissimilar materials, elements, etc

   pure nitrogen

2. free from tainting or polluting matter; clean; wholesome

   pure water

3. free from moral taint or defilement

   pure love

4. prenominal (intensifier)

   pure stupidity

   a pure coincidence

5. (of a subject, etc) studied in its theoretical aspects rather than for its practical applications Compare applied

   pure mathematics

   pure science

6. (of a vowel) pronounced with more or less unvarying quality without any glide; monophthongal
7. (of a consonant) not accompanied by another consonant
8. of supposedly unmixed racial descent
9. genetics biology breeding true for one or more characteristics; homozygous
10. music
    1. (of a sound) composed of a single frequency without overtones
    2. (of intervals in the system of just intonation) mathematically accurate in respect to the ratio of one frequency to another

Derived Forms

• ˈpureness, noun

Other Words From

• pureness noun
• hyper·pure adjective
• hyper·purely adverb
• hyper·pureness noun
• super·pure adjective
• un·pure adjective
• un·purely adverb
• un·pureness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of pure¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English pur, from Old French, from Latin pūrus “clean, unmixed, plain, pure”

Word History and Origins

Origin of pure¹

C13: from Old French pur, from Latin pūrus unstained

Synonym Study

See clean.

Example Sentences

Henderson steeps his delivery not in tragedy, but with a pure knowing and empathy.

From Salon

Electrospinning using a starch-rich ingredient such as white flour is more challenging than using pure starch, as the impurities -- the protein and cellulose -- make the mixture more viscous and unable to form fibres.

From Science Daily

The result, if we want to get really geeky, is a mix of clay, pure sand and sandy loam.

From BBC

"Research on the indigenous microbiota of the skin has mainly focused on metagenomic analysis, which does not involve culture methods, or on the analysis of individual bacteria in pure culture. However, since multiple bacteria interact with each other in the actual skin environment, we thought that a model culture system that reproduced the interaction relationship was necessary," notes Dr. Furuyama.

From Science Daily

The facility in Carson, called Pure Water Southern California, is projected to cost $8 billion at full build-out and produce 150 million gallons of water daily — enough to supply about half a million homes.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• authentic
• bright
• classic
• natural
• neat
• perfect
• plain
• real
• simple
• transparent
• true
• unadulterated