general-purpose

adjective

gen·​er·​al-pur·​pose ˈjen-rəl-ˈpər-pəs 

ˈje-nə-

: suitable to be used for two or more basic purposes

Synonyms of general-purpose

• unlimited
• general
• unrestricted

Examples of general-purpose in a Sentence

a general-purpose glue for routine household repairs

Recent Examples on the Web

The motorcycle continued north and stopped in the middle general-purpose lane, Macchia said. — Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 3 Nov. 2026

Rather than providing general-purpose cloud computing, CoreWeave specializes in the powerful computing infrastructure needed to develop and run AI models. — Paul Meeks, CNBC, 2 Nov. 2026

OpenAI’s launch shifts the same idea out of a shopping tab and into a general-purpose chatbot. — Lauren Schuster, Sacbee.com, 2 Nov. 2026

The Arrowhead 140 is a general-purpose frigate and its design is derived from Denmark’s Iver Huitfeldt-class warships. — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 29 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1894, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for general-purpose

• multipurpose
• purpose