Word.ws English Dictionary

purblind

Syllables: pur·blind/ˈpɜːblaɪnd/US/ˈpɝblaɪnd/

purblind adjective: of a person: having impaired vision; partially blind; dim-sighted.

Adjective

purblind (comparative more purblind, superlative most purblind)

  1. (literary) Of a person: having impaired vision; partially blind; dim-sighted.
    • Thy dignitie or autorite, wherin thou onely differest from other, is (as it were) but a weighty or heuy cloke, fresshely gliteringe in the eyen of them that be poreblynde, where unto the it is paynefull, if thou weare hym in his right facion, and as it shal best become the.1531, Thomas Elyot, “The Thre Noble Counsayles of Reason, Societe, and Knowlege”, in Ernest Rhys, editor, The Boke Named the Governour […] (Everyman’s Library), London: J[oseph] M[alaby] Dent & Co...
    • And when thou hast on foot the purblind hare, / Mark the poor wretch, to overshoot his troubles, / How he outruns the wind, and with what care, / He cranks and crosses with a thousand doubles: […]1593, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC, [verse 114], lines [679–682]; republished as Shakespeare’s Venus & Adonis: […], London: J[oseph] M[alaby] Dent...
  2. (literary) Of the eyes: unable to see well, especially due to old age; weak.
  3. (figuratively, literary) Of a person: lacking in discernment or understanding; dim-witted, unintelligent.
    • Yet did my Breſt that glorious fire incloſe, / VVhich their dull purblind Ignorance not ſavv, […]1607, Michael Drayton, “The Legend of Great Cromwell”, in Poems: […], London: […] Willi[am] Stansby for Iohn Smethwicke, published 1630, →OCLC, page 437
    • O purblind race of miserable men, / How many among us at this very hour / Do forge a life-long trouble for ourselves. / By taking true for false, or false for true.1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Enid”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, pages 45–46
  4. (figuratively, literary) Of a place: poorly illuminated; dark, dim.
  5. (literary, obsolete) Completely blind.
    • Speake to my goſhip Venus one faire vvord, / One nickname for her purblind ſonne and her, / Young Abraham: Cupid he that ſhot ſo true, / VVhen King Cophetua lou'd the beger mayd.c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Iuliet. […] (Second Quarto), London: […] Thomas Creede, for Cuthbert Burby, […], published 1599, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]
    • This vvimpled vvhy[n]ing purblind vvayvvard Boy, / This ſignior Iunios gyant dvvarffe, dan Cupid, […]c. 1595–1596 (date written), W. Shakespere [i.e., William Shakespeare], A Pleasant Conceited Comedie Called, Loues Labors Lost. […] (First Quarto), London: […] W[illiam] W[hite] for Cut[h]bert Burby...
  6. (literary, obsolete) Having one eye blind.
    • The French haue a good Prouerbe. Entre les auengles, les borgnes ſont les Roys: Among the blinde, the pore blind are the Kings. And thus they vvhich haue no skill in tongues, vvill boldly ſay, that this or that man doth perfectly, and vvithout ſtamering, ſpeake many tongs.1617, Fynes Moryson, “Of Precepts for Trauellers, which may Instruct the Vnexperienced”, in An Itinerary Written by Fynes Moryson Gent. […]: Containing His Ten Yeeres Travell through the Twelve...
  7. (literary, obsolete) Near-sighted, short-sighted; myopic.
    • The man that is pore blinde, cannot ſee far from hym. And as to ioke on deth we be for the moſt part pore blinde all yͭ mayny: for we cannot ſee hym til he cõe [come] very nere vs. But theſe folk be not pore blynde but ſtarke blynde: for they cãnot ſee him when he commeth ſo nere, yͭ hee putteth...c. 1522 (date written), Thomas More, “A Treatyce (Vnfynyshed) vppon These Wordes of Holye Scrypture, Memorare Nouissima, & Ineternum non Peccabis, Remember the Last Thynges, and Thou shalt Neuer...
    • Pore-blinde Men, ſee beſt in the Dimmer Lights; And likevviſe haue their Sight Stronger neere hand, than thoſe that are not Pore-blinde, And can Reade and VVrite ſmaller Letters.1631, Francis [Bacon], “IX. Century. [Experiments in Consort Touching the Eyes, and Sight.]”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley...
    Synonyms:
    mope-eyed
  8. (literary, obsolete, rare) Far-sighted, long-sighted; hypermetropic.

Noun

purblind (plural purblinds)

  1. (literary) A person who has impaired vision or is partially blind.
    • If the miraculous Blood fails of diſſolving at its Approach to the miraculous Head, the vviſe Neapolitans look on it as an Omen of ſome more grievous Judgmt. than our Foreſighted Purblinds do of a Salt's Overthrovv on Table; but vvhen it benignly liquifies 'tis then a ſure Token of heavenly Favour...1759, Andrew Brice, “NAPLES”, in A Universal Geographical Dictionary; or, Grand Gazetteer; of General, Special, Antient and Modern Geography: […], volume II, London: […] J. Robinson and W. Johnston...
    • To love and adore is our proper province, not to knovv much; for as to knovvledge, vve are mere purblinds both in naturals and ſpirituals.1781, John Rutty, Meditations and Soliloquies, with Religious Experiences, […], Dublin: […] Robert Jackson […], →OCLC, page 59

Verb

purblind (third-person singular simple present purblinds, present participle purblinding, simple past and past participle purblinded)

  1. (literary, transitive, often passive voice) To cause (someone) to have impaired vision or become partially blind.
    • And may the Sun, that novv begins t'appear / I'th Horizon to uſher in the year, / Melt all thoſe fatuous Vapours, vvhoſe falſe light / Purblinds the VVorld, and leads them from the right; […]1661, Alex[ander] Brome, “A New-years-gift”, in Songs and Other Poems […], 3rd edition, London: […] Henry Brome, […], published 1668, →OCLC, page 219
    • It is ſtrange to think, hovv ſound and clear, and diſtinct a Man's Judgment, vvill be againſt thoſe Evils in others, vvhich he ſeeth not in himſelf; […] Self-love ſo purblinds them in this Reflection, that they cannot diſcern that in themſelves, vvhich others cannot but diſcern.a. 1664 (date written), Hugh Binning, “Sermon XX. I John i. 10.”, in The Works of the Pious, Reverend and Learn’d Mr. Hugh Binning, […], Edinburgh: […] R. Fleming and Company, and sold by Mr. James...

purblind meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Kannada

purblind in Tamil

கண் மங்கலான

purblind in Urdu

نیم نابینا

purblind in Bengali

of a person: having impaired vision; partially blind — see also dim-sighted
অন্ধপ্রায় ondhopraẏ

purblind in Kannada

ಅರೆಕುರುಡಾದ, ಮಂದದೃಷ್ಟಿಯ

Examples of purblind in a sentence

  • [T]here were shown in to us an old, worn, purblind, ascetic-looking priest, […]1891 February–December, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Hatiheu”, in In the South Seas […], New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published...
  • A herd of palsied purblind idiots hugging their sterile profits close to their sunken chests in the face of my father’s displeasure.1951, Isaac Asimov, chapter 16, in Foundation, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, published March 1967, →OCLC, part V (The Merchant Princes), page...
  • The public is the pupae of the purposely purblind […]1959 April 21, Walt Kelly, Pogo: The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips, Seattle, Wash.: Fantagraphics Books, published 2011, →ISBN, page 34:
  • Finally, between 1880 and 1900, an explosive burst of experimental activity at last drove home the truth of germ theory to all but the most purblind of critics.2002, John Waller, “Introduction: Revolutionary, by Any Standards”, in John Turney, editor, The Discovery of the Germ: Twenty Years that...

Synonyms of purblind

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

10 more antonymsFewer antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of purblind

Forms of purblind

Adjective
comparativemore purblind
superlativemost purblind
alternative formporeblind
Noun
pluralpurblinds
Verb
third-person singular presentpurblinds
present participlepurblinding
past participlepurblinded
pastpurblinded

Origin of purblind

The adjective is derived from Middle English purblind (“(adjective) completely blind; blind in one eye; near-sighted; (noun) near-sighted animal, specifically a hare”) [and other forms], possibly from pur, pure (“completely, entirely”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pewH- (“to be clean; pure”); influenced by pur- (prefix meaning ‘completely; forward; in advance’)) + blind (“sightless, blind”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlendʰ- (“to blend, mix up; to make cloudy or opaque”)). Adjective sense 4.1 (“completely blind”) was the original sense. The senses denoting partial blindness are possibly the result of confusion of the first element pur- with poor, perhaps through folk etymology. (Compare parboil regarding per versus pars.) The noun and verb are derived from the adjective.

Words formed from purblind

Questions about purblind

What does purblind mean?
Purblind means of a person: having impaired vision; partially blind; dim-sighted.
What is purblind in Tamil?
Purblind in Tamil is கண் மங்கலான. See Purblind meaning in Tamil.
How do you use purblind in a sentence?
[T]here were shown in to us an old, worn, purblind, ascetic-looking priest, […]
What part of speech is purblind?
Purblind can be an adjective, a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce purblind?
Purblind is pronounced /ˈpɜːblaɪnd/ (UK).

Words near purblind in the dictionary

  1. Purbeck
  2. Purbeck stone
  3. Purbeckian
  4. Purbiya
  5. Purbiyas
  6. purblind
  7. purblinded
  8. purblinding
  9. purblindly
  10. purblindness
  11. purblinds

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: purblind (page history and authors); purblind (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); purblind (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); purblind (Kannada Wiktionary) (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:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-purblind.wav.

Cite this entry: “purblind.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/purblind. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.