Meaning of pure in English

1. Pronunciation

   /pjʊr/

   US accent

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   UK accent

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1. Classifying Adjective

   pure

   Definitions

   1. concerned with theory and data rather than practice

   Examples

   • « opposed to applied »
   • « pure science »

   Synonyms

   • theoretical
2. 2. free from discordant qualities

   Synonyms

   • harmonious
3. 3. in a state of sexual virginity

   Examples

   • « pure and vestal modesty »
   • « a spinster or virgin lady »
   • « men have decreed that their women must be pure and virginal »

   Synonyms

   • chaste
4. 4. not mixed

   Examples

   • « pure oxygen »

   Synonyms

   • absolute

5. Qualitative Adjective

   pure

   Etymology

   Middle English: from Old French pur‘pure’, from Latin purus

   Definitions

   1. free of extraneous elements of any kind

   Examples

   • « pure air and water »
   • « pure gold »
   • « pure primary colors »
   • « the violin's pure and lovely song »
   • « pure tones »

   Synonyms

   • axenic
   • clean
   • fresh
   • clean
   • clear
   • light
   • unclouded
   • fine
   • f.
   • native
   • plain
   • sheer
   • unmingled
   • unmixed
   • pristine
   • purified
   • refined
   • sublimate
   • unadulterated
   • unalloyed
   • uncontaminated
   • unpolluted
   • virginal

   Antonyms

   • impure
6. 2. (of color) being chromatically pure

   Examples

   • « not diluted with white or gray or black »

   Synonyms

   • intense
   • vivid

   Antonyms

   • unsaturated
7. 3. used of persons or behaviors

   Examples

   • « having no faults »
   • « sinless »
   • « I felt pure and sweet as a new baby- Sylvia Plath »
   • « pure as the driven snow »

   Synonyms

   • immaculate
   • undefiled
   • white

   Antonyms

   • impure

See also

• chaste