Word.ws English Dictionary

once in a purple moon

once in a purple moon adverb: synonym of once in a blue moon (“rarely”).

Adverb

once in a purple moon (not comparable)

  1. Synonym of once in a blue moon (“rarely”).
    • However, in spite all of our complainings, there was a distinct pleasure in shopping along this street, because once in a purple moon, one did strike a really nice model and so very reasonable, that one wondered how the manufacturer could afford to bring it out at the price.1924, New York Public Library, Dresses - Volumes 10-11, page 15
    • Once in a purple moon, it may be necessary for the top men to settle some awful impasse between themselves.1988, Charles Reynell (publisher), The Economist, Volume 307, Issues 7544-7556, page 11

Synonyms of once in a purple moon

Questions about once in a purple moon

What does once in a purple moon mean?
Once in a purple moon means synonym of once in a blue moon (“rarely”).
What part of speech is once in a purple moon?
Once in a purple moon is an adverb.

Words near once in a purple moon in the dictionary

  1. once burned, twice cautious
  2. once burned, twice shy
  3. once for all
  4. once hurt, twice shy
  5. once in a blue moon
  6. once in a purple moon
  7. once in a way
  8. once in a while
  9. once in awhile
  10. once more
  11. once more into the breach

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: once in a purple moon (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “once in a purple moon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/once_in_a_purple_moon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.