pristine
adjective
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When pristine was anglicized in the 16th century, people borrowed the meanings of "early" and "original" from the Latin word pristinus and applied those meanings to what is desirable as well as to what is not. But it has long been a tendency of civilized people to admire a simpler and unsullied past. The supposition is that when things were in their oldest or original state, they were better. Thus, pristine was extended to describe the notion of an unspoiled, uncorrupted, or unpolluted state. And what is unspoiled or uncontaminated may connote the freshness and cleanness of something that has just been made, which explains how pristine has also come to mean "fresh and clean."
Examples of pristine in a Sentence
Jared Ranahan, Forbes.com, 30 June 2025
Advocates are particularly concerned about potential spills of aviation fuel and raw sewage into the pristine Everglades waterways.
—Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 30 June 2025
The under-18s trained and played matches at the university on pitches inferior to the 11 natural grass and artificial pitches at the pristine AAEPC.
—Andy Naylor, New York Times, 30 June 2025
Thankfully, the bill no longer includes Sen. Mike Lee's provision to sell off millions of acres of pristine federal land in the West to developers after an outcry from (actual) conservative voters.
—Carlo Versano, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for pristine
Cite this Entry
“Pristine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pristine. Accessed 13 Jul. 2025.
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pristine
adjective
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