purely
UK/ˈpjʊəli//ˈpjʊɹli/
purely adverb: wholly; really, completely.
Adverb
purely (comparative more purely, superlative most purely)
- Wholly; really, completely.
- I am fascinated by the entire scene, I purely am.1962, Warren Miller, Flush Times
- Synonyms:
- thoroughly, totally, absolutely, all-out, tout à fait, all the way, stone-cold, blind, altogether, stark
- Solely; exclusively; merely, simply.
- The IRA should "lead by example" and "unilaterally" abandon paramilitary violence and adopt a purely political strategy, a leading Sinn Féin MP urged yesterday.8 April 2005, Owen Bowcott, The Guardian
- "But this meal tonight is not a date, not in the traditional sense. It's purely platonic, I assure you."2007, Helen Brooks, His Christmas Bride
- Chastely, innocently; in a sinless manner, without fault.
- faith and troth, / Strain'd purely from all hollow bias drawing: / Bids thee with most diuine integritie, / From heart of very heart, great Hector welcome.c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- Synonyms:
- guiltlessly, morally, sinlessly, blamelessly, cleanly, innocently, irreprehensibly, unblameably, unblamefully, becomingly
- Without physical adulterants; refinedly, with no admixture.
- By some means or other the water flows purely, and separated from the filth, in a deeper and narrower course on one side of the rock, and the refuse of the dirt and troubled water goes off on the other in a broader current [...].1823, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Table Talk
- Synonyms:
- pristinely, unadulteratedly, undilutedly
Adjective
purely (comparative more purely, superlative most purely)
- Well, in good health.
- My Dame (who was an utter ſtranger to all that had paſſed between the young Squire and her daughter) was exceeding glad to ſee him look ſo purely after his journey, and all the young fry ſwarmed about him, for the ſake of the halfpence they had ſo often ſcrambled for; […]1753, R. P., “Squire Richard receives Dolly’s answer. […]”, in Virtue Triumphant, and Pride Abased; in the Humorous History of Dickey Gotham, and Doll Clod; […], volume I, London: […] M. Cooper, […]...
- Land[lady]. Good-morrow to your worſhip!—I’m glad to ſee your worſhip look ſo purely—I came up with all ſpeed (taking breath) our pye is in the oven—that was what you ſent for me about, I take it. / Juſt[ice]. True—true—ſit down good Mrs. Buſtle, pray—— / Land. O your worſhip’s always very good...1800, Maria Edgeworth, “Old Poz”, in The Parent’s Assistant, or Stories for Children. […], 3rd edition, volume IV, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], by G[eorge] Woodfall, […], →OCLC, scene ii, pages...
- Synonyms:
- immaculately, perfectly, pristinely, unadulteratedly, undilutedly, untaintedly, untouchedly, virginly
purely meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali
purely in Hindi
- विशुद्ध रूप से, शुद्ध रूप से
purely in Marathi
- purely, solely
- निव्वळ nivvaḷ
purely in Urdu
- فقط, صرف
purely in Bengali
- বিশুদ্ধভাবে
More languagesFewer languages
- purely in Telugu
- అచ్చముగా accamugā
- purely in Malayalam
- ശുദ്ധമായി, കേവലമായി, വിശുദ്ധമായി, നിർമ്മലമായി
- purely in Punjabi
- ਸ਼ੁੱਧ ਤੌਰ ਉੱਤੇ, ਸ਼ੁੱਧ ਤੌਰ'ਤੇ, ਸ਼ੁੱਧ ਤੌਰ ਤੇ
- purely in Nepali
- विशुद्ध रूपमा
Examples of purely in a sentence
- Good-morrow to your worſhip!—I’m glad to ſee your worſhip look ſo purely—I came up with all ſpeed (taking breath) our pye is in the oven—that was what you ſent for me about, I take it. / Juſt[ice].1800, Maria Edgeworth, “Old Poz”, in The Parent’s Assistant, or Stories for Children. […], 3rd edition, volume IV, London: […] J[oseph]...
- Reynolds, if the ladies’ prayers are of any avail, you ought to be purely, and I suppose ladies’ prayers have the precedency in efficacy.[…]”1812, [Maria] Edgeworth, “The Absentee. Chapter XVI.”, in Tales of Fashionable Life (2nd series), volume VI, London: […] [Heney] for...
- “They be all purely, thank ye, Miss,” said the woman; “and, as I tell my good man, I make no doubt but we shall do very well again, after a bit.”1817, chapter III, in Rachel: A Tale, 2nd edition, London: […] Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1818, page 62:
- “Well, John, how are you; and how are Mary and the children?”—“All purely, thank ye, master.” “Why, you deceitful wretch—you ‘spiritless outcast’—you are worse than the knife-grinder!1839 November, “The Church and the Chartists”, in Fraser’s Magazine for Town and Country, volume XX, number CXIX, page 622, column 1:
Synonyms of purely
- thoroughly
- totally
- absolutely
- all-out
- tout à fait
- all the way
- stone-cold
- blind
- altogether
- stark
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- cold
- cap-a-pie
- categorically
- completely
- detailly
- downright
- entirely
- exhaustively
- finally
- first and last
- flat-out
- flat out
- from aardvark to zymurgy
- from A to Z
- from head to toe
- from soup to nuts
- from stem to stern
- from the rooter to the tooter
- from top to bottom
- from top to toe
- fully
- handsomely
- heartily
- head to foot
- head to tail
- head to toe
- hook
- line
- and sinker
- in detail
Antonyms
Forms of purely
| Adverb | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more purely |
| superlative | most purely |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more purely |
| superlative | most purely |
Origin of purely
From Middle English purely, equivalent to pure + -ly.
From pure + -ly.
Words formed from purely
Phrases with purely
Words that rhyme with purely
Questions about purely
- What does purely mean?
- Purely means wholly; really, completely.
- What is purely in Hindi?
- Purely in Hindi is विशुद्ध रूप से, शुद्ध रूप से. See Purely meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use purely in a sentence?
- Good-morrow to your worſhip!—I’m glad to ſee your worſhip look ſo purely—I came up with all ſpeed (taking breath) our pye is in the oven—that was what you ſent for me about, I take it. / Juſt[ice].
- What part of speech is purely?
- Purely can be an adverb or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce purely?
- Purely is pronounced /ˈpjʊəli/ (UK).
Words near purely in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: purely (page history and authors); purely (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); निव्वळ (Marathi) (page history and authors); purely (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); purely (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); అచ్చముగా (Telugu) (page history and authors); purely (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); purely (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); purely (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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: en-us-purely.ogg.
Cite this entry: “purely.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/purely. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.