1
as in polluted
containing foreign or lower-grade substances
be careful, because impure motor oil can damage your car's engine
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in vulgar
depicting or referring to sexual matters in a way that is unacceptable in polite society
Victorian notions of what qualified as impure art now strike us as laughable
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of impure
Wad, perhaps the most abundant, is a dark-brown-to-black, very soft, earthy mineral that is commonly considered an impure hydrous oxide of manganese.
—
arkansasonline.com, 30 Nov. 2024
If impure quartz is used, the outside materials can hamper the effectiveness of the transistor.
—Olatunji Osho-Williams, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Oct. 2024
There was also the upset about Ryan, who shows her breasts—a sweetheart made impure through pulp fiction.
—Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2024
But to pursue a state of purity—even a fictional one; even a made-up, obviously impure one—still feels righteous.
—Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 26 Aug. 2024
See All Example Sentences for impure
arkansasonline.com, 30 Nov. 2024
If impure quartz is used, the outside materials can hamper the effectiveness of the transistor.
—Olatunji Osho-Williams, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Oct. 2024
There was also the upset about Ryan, who shows her breasts—a sweetheart made impure through pulp fiction.
—Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2024
But to pursue a state of purity—even a fictional one; even a made-up, obviously impure one—still feels righteous.
—Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 26 Aug. 2024
See All Example Sentences for impure
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impure
Adjective
-
The childish use of vulgar profanity simply leads peoople to view the speaker as being unable to express his/her view.—
Letters to the editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
4 Apr. 2025
-
Along with receiving vulgar comments in person and people taking her picture on campus, the 18-year-old has received vile and sexist messages after her phone number was posted online.—
David Chiu,
People.com,
1 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Death, Poison and Blackmail: Every Wild Moment from the The White Lotus Season 3 Finale His son on the other hand, did not get off so easy after making his protein shake the following morning in the contaminated blender.—
Alexandra Schonfeld,
People.com,
7 Apr. 2025
-
People can also become infected by touching infected secretions, and then inoculating themselves by touching their nose, mouth, or eyes with contaminated hands.—
Judy Stone,
Forbes.com,
7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Presented at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, in 1976 as part of a group show of artists’ books, Santoro’s volume was immediately censored as obscene and offensive.—
Paola Ugolini,
Artforum,
1 Apr. 2025
-
Cybertruck owners have shared displays of hostility from other motorists on a Facebook page, including vulgar notes left on their vehicles and obscene gestures directed at them from passing cars.—
Gabe Hauari,
USA TODAY,
11 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Vinegar, which is really dilute acetic acid, will help the milk curdle by further denaturing the whey proteins and neutralizing negative charges at the surface of casein micelles.—
Liz Roth-Johnson,
Discover Magazine,
12 Feb. 2013
-
However toxic a substance may be, the amount of exposure received by the general population is very dilute.—
George Johnson,
Discover Magazine,
8 July 2013
Adjective
-
The company reported net income of $21.1 million, or $1.39 per diluted share, compared to $23.9 million, or $1.55 per diluted share, in the previous year.—
Quartz Intelligence Newsroom,
Quartz,
28 Mar. 2025
-
In the year, net income was $3.1 million, or 5 cents a diluted share, down from $27.9 million, or 43 cents, in fiscal 2023.—
Jean E. Palmieri,
WWD,
20 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Vientos also fielded a ball that may have gone foul but instead ended up as an infield hit.—
Will Sammon,
New York Times,
3 Apr. 2025
-
First, Hall went across the line, sliding into foul territory and threw a strike to first to rob Ryan Batista of a double.—
John Maffei,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
3 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
The scene will portray oil workers getting in their trucks and heading to work, thus a dirty vehicle is a must.—
Brayden Garcia,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
2 Apr. 2025
-
To understand the increasing flow of dirty stormwater into the system, Miami Waterkeeper and Miami-Dade County put together an audit of the stormwater systems among different municipalities in 2022.—
Courtney Heath,
Miami Herald,
1 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
The company in 2020 pleaded guilty to distributing adulterated ice-cream products and agreed to pay a fine over the outbreak.—
Dylan Tokar,
WSJ,
2 Feb. 2023
-
And while most of those overdoses involved the illicit synthetic opioid fentanyl, experts say that an adulterated and contaminated drug supply is also leading to deaths.—
Nadia Kounang,
CNN,
17 Mar. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Impure.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impure. Accessed 14 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share