purely

adverb pure·ly \ ˈpyu̇r-lē \

Updated on: 10 Apr 2018

Definition of purely

1 a : to a full extent : totally

purely by accident

b : wholly, exclusively

a selection based purely on merit

2 : without admixture of anything injurious or foreign

3 : simply, merely

read purely for relaxation

4 : in a chaste or innocent manner

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Examples of purely in a Sentence

They met purely by accident.
a selection based purely on merit
The organization's mission, purely and simply, is to provide food to people who need it.
It was purely and simply a matter of greed.

Recent Examples of purely from the Web

By way of example, lots of people with OCD have purely mental compulsions that are impossible to see as an outsider.

— lily bailey, Health.com, "7 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About OCD, According to a Woman Who’s Had the Disorder All Her Life," 4 Apr. 2018
Then there's the purely private acts of the president.

— Fox News, "Darrell Issa: Sessions giving credibility to probe of DOJ," 1 Apr. 2018
Those other two routes are paid for purely through sponsorship deals with major brands.

— rob wile, miamiherald, "A bus service that residents can’t get enough of? It’s happening in Miami | Miami Herald," 30 Mar. 2018
In purely visual terms, Mr. Sekhukhuni has ample room to mature; his videos rely too heavily on plug-and-play personal computing software, and need to stand further from a million Tumblr memes.

— roberta smith, will heinrich, martha schwendener and jason farago, New York Times, "What to See in New York Art Galleries This Week," 29 Mar. 2018
Encouraged, Warwick persuaded his wife, Irena, to have an implant put in her arm as well, creating the first purely electronic communication between two human nervous systems.

— naomi fry, The New Yorker, "The Mind-Expanding Ideas of Andy Clark," 26 Mar. 2018
Nojeim said that nations such as Turkey could be approved for CLOUD for purely political reasons and argued that governments should have to meet specific human rights standards to be considered for the expedited access.

— hiawatha bray, BostonGlobe.com, "Should foreign police be able to search for evidence in US cloud data?," 25 Mar. 2018
The emphasis was instead placed on development of a purely atomic bomber, designated as Weapons System 125A (WS-125A).

— sean gallagher, Ars Technica, "Best bad idea ever? Why Putin’s nuclear-powered missile is possible… and awful," 22 Mar. 2018
The sculpture is to be sent into space this summer, as the first satellite ever launched to serve as a purely aesthetic object.

— San Francisco Chronicle, "SFChronicle critics’ picks: What to do the week of March 25," 21 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'purely.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of purely

14th century

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purely

adverb

Definition of purely for English Language Learners

: completely or only

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