1
as in innocently
with purity of thought and deed the devout girl vowed to live her life purely and in the service of God

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

2
as in solely
for nothing other than I fish purely for the fun of it—I don't care if I end up with no fish to fry

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

3
as in only
nothing more than her pleasantries were purely for show and masked her true feelings

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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 purely The concern isn't purely hypothetical; as cases of bird flu continue to rise among farm animals, public health experts are carefully monitoring the virus’ potential shift to spreading among people. Alice Park, TIME, 29 Jan. 2025 Any prices or levels shown are either historical or purely indicative. Katie Stockton, CNBC, 27 Jan. 2025 This will not be a purely passive experience on the audience’s part. Jennifer Maas, Variety, 24 Jan. 2025 Shaping Tomorrow's Intelligence Today The shift from purely generative to more agentic AI represents a fundamental reimagining of what artificial intelligence can be. Bernard Marr, Forbes, 20 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for purely 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for purely
Adverb
  • If your partner’s relying solely on socks to keep their feet warm, get them these extremely soft slides.
    Jessica Kasparian, SELF, 31 Jan. 2025
  • Tekken’s enduring impact isn’t solely derived from the characters and their nationalities, but also on its strength as a fighting game — the rush, techniques, and gameplay maneuvers bring excitement to onlookers at tournaments.
    Veerender Jubbal, Rolling Stone, 31 Jan. 2025
Adverb
  • Nearly 1,600 defendants were charged in the riot, and only 10 were convicted of sedition.
    Ella Lee, The Hill, 21 Jan. 2025
  • This interaction is only the latest movie clip to be used as evidence in the back-and-forth between the two parties.
    Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 21 Jan. 2025
Adverb
  • In addition to fines, a court may order people convicted of a first offense to attend traffic school or a program to learn how to properly use safety belts, according to California code.
    Kendrick Marshall, Sacramento Bee, 30 Jan. 2025
  • When these valves don’t close properly, blood can flow both ways instead of just upward, leading to pooling around the valves.
    Sandra Rose Salathe, Flow Space, 30 Jan. 2025
Adverb
  • IndieWire shares Hinojosa’s keynote exclusively below.
    Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 26 Jan. 2025
  • In turn this put Netflix in the spotlight and spurred it to develop its own slate of movies. Called Netflix Originals, they are generally produced, financed and exclusively distributed by the platform.
    Caroline Reid, Forbes, 25 Jan. 2025
Adverb
  • The body and leg meat can be just as tasty with just a little extra preparation and special recipes.
    Peter Burke, Fox News, 26 Jan. 2025
  • Put one foot in front of the other, smile and just keep on rolling.
    Karen Mizoguchi, People.com, 26 Jan. 2025
Adverb
  • My original intention was simply to write a novel, to tell the story of a family and an individual's fate, which just happens to touch on this subject [Land Reform].
    John Ruwitch, NPR, 24 Jan. 2025
  • Snowden is, quite simply, a traitor and fugitive from U.S. justice.
    The Editors, National Review, 24 Jan. 2025
Adverb
  • This pattern looks likely to continue, as Trump is going to continue to fumble in some cases, and only merely stumbles across the finish line in others.
    Philip Elliott, TIME, 29 Jan. 2025
  • Volodin said merely discussing a plot to assassinate Putin was path to nuclear war and that Carlson's comments should be investigated further.
    Jonathan Granoff, Newsweek, 29 Jan. 2025

Thesaurus Entries Near purely

Cite this Entry

“Purely.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purely. Accessed 5 Feb. 2025.

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