Dictionary entry details
• PURE (adjective)
Meaning:
Free of extraneous elements of any kind
Context examples:
pure air and water / pure gold / pure primary colors / the violin's pure and lovely song / pure tones / pure oxygen
Similar:
virginal (untouched or undefiled)
uncontaminated; unpolluted (free from admixture with noxious elements; clean)
unalloyed (free from admixture)
unadulterated (not mixed with impurities)
purified; refined; sublimate (made pure)
pristine (completely free from dirt or contamination)
plain; sheer; unmingled; unmixed (not mixed with extraneous elements)
native (as found in nature in the elemental form)
fine (free from impurities; having a high or specified degree of purity)
clean; clear; light; unclouded ((of sound or color) free from anything that dulls or dims)
clean; fresh (free from impurities)
axenic (used of cultures of microorganisms; not contaminated by or completely free of the presence of other organisms)
Also:
clean (ritually clean or pure)
processed (prepared or converted from a natural state by subjecting to a special process)
Attribute:
pureness; purity (being undiluted or unmixed with extraneous material)
Antonym:
impure (combined with extraneous elements)
Meaning:
Without qualification; used informally as (often pejorative) intensifiers
Synonyms:
utter; sodding; double-dyed; arrant; staring; everlasting; perfect; pure; unadulterated; thoroughgoing; consummate; stark; complete; gross
Context examples:
an arrant fool / a complete coward / a consummate fool / a double-dyed villain / gross negligence / a perfect idiot / pure folly / what a sodding mess / stark staring mad / a thoroughgoing villain / utter nonsense / the unadulterated truth
Similar:
unmitigated (not diminished or moderated in intensity or severity; sometimes used as an intensifier)
Meaning:
Concerned with theory and data rather than practice; opposed to applied
Context example:
pure science
Similar:
theoretical (concerned with theories rather than their practical applications)
Meaning:
(of color) being chromatically pure; not diluted with white or grey or black
Synonyms:
saturated; pure
Similar:
intense; vivid ((of color) having the highest saturation)
Meaning:
Free from discordant qualities
Similar:
harmonious (musically pleasing)
Meaning:
(used of persons or behaviors) having no faults; sinless
Context examples:
I felt pure and sweet as a new baby / pure as the driven snow
Similar:
white (free from moral blemish or impurity; unsullied)
immaculate; undefiled (free from stain or blemish)
Also:
chaste (morally pure (especially not having experienced sexual intercourse))
Attribute:
morality (concern with the distinction between good and evil or right and wrong; right or good conduct)
Antonym:
impure ((used of persons or behaviors) immoral or obscene)
Meaning:
In a state of sexual virginity
Synonyms:
vestal; virgin; virtuous; virginal; pure
Context examples:
pure and vestal modesty / a spinster or virgin lady / men have decreed that their women must be pure and virginal
Similar:
chaste (morally pure (especially not having experienced sexual intercourse))
