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 same methods can be used in malicious attacks, so general-purpose AI models impose restrictions that can also block legitimate security work. — Wen Shao, Fortune, 5 Nov. 2026

Smaller, general-purpose models can increasingly run on customers’ own hardware, keeping sensitive information on-site and letting decisions happen where the data is produced. — Brandon Barbello, Forbes.com, 5 Nov. 2026

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

Word History

First Known Use

1894, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for general-purpose

• multipurpose
• purpose