1
as in polluted
containing foreign or lower-grade substances
be careful, because impure motor oil can damage your car's engine
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in vulgar
depicting or referring to sexual matters in a way that is unacceptable in polite society
Victorian notions of what qualified as impure art now strike us as laughable
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of impure
Pop entered a renaissance thanks to smart young women sharing impure thoughts.
—
Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 17 Dec. 2024
Wad, perhaps the most abundant, is a dark-brown-to-black, very soft, earthy mineral that is commonly considered an impure hydrous oxide of manganese.
—arkansasonline.com, 30 Nov. 2024
If impure quartz is used, the outside materials can hamper the effectiveness of the transistor.
—Olatunji Osho-Williams, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Oct. 2024
Two major developments in the mid-1800s showed why impure water is dangerous.
—Bill Sullivan, The Conversation, 27 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impure
Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 17 Dec. 2024
Wad, perhaps the most abundant, is a dark-brown-to-black, very soft, earthy mineral that is commonly considered an impure hydrous oxide of manganese.
—arkansasonline.com, 30 Nov. 2024
If impure quartz is used, the outside materials can hamper the effectiveness of the transistor.
—Olatunji Osho-Williams, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Oct. 2024
Two major developments in the mid-1800s showed why impure water is dangerous.
—Bill Sullivan, The Conversation, 27 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impure
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impure
Adjective
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The comments in screen shots of the chat room were demeaning and vulgar – as were the texts from the anonymous messenger who had sent her the images.—
Yoonjung Seo and Mike Valerio,
CNN Money,
25 Apr. 2025
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Where once was the vulgar, now lies the Vulgate, a common relatable almost religious experience that all at Barclays seemed to feel.—
Kory Grow,
Rolling Stone,
18 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Amazing tales of dead spacecraft that came back to life Related: SpaceX launches secret US spy satellite on 19th anniversary of company's 1st-ever liftoff (video, photos) The HALO Trust has been working in Cambodia since the 1990s, helping to scour hundreds of square miles of contaminated land.—
Tereza Pultarova,
Space.com,
29 Apr. 2025
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The cleanup required lakes to be drained and contaminated soil, which had seeped more than 9 feet (3 meters) deeper than expected, to be piled and heated to break down the dioxin molecules.—
Pamela McElwee,
The Conversation,
28 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
This social justice kitsch becomes a mildly obscene evocation of racial terrorism.—
Armond White,
National Review,
18 Apr. 2025
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Fifteen years after her husband’s drowning in the nearby bay, Tressilian’s days are spent in a cranky routine: grumbling over the obscene resort stationed on the opposite bluff, reading London’s gossip columns, and summoning the household help with the insistent ringing of a bedroom call bell.—
Erik Morse,
Vogue,
15 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Vinegar, which is really dilute acetic acid, will help the milk curdle by further denaturing the whey proteins and neutralizing negative charges at the surface of casein micelles.—
Liz Roth-Johnson,
Discover Magazine,
12 Feb. 2013
-
However toxic a substance may be, the amount of exposure received by the general population is very dilute.—
George Johnson,
Discover Magazine,
8 July 2013
Adjective
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Philip Morris smokes estimates Philip Morris International (PM) reported first-quarter results that exceeded expectations, with adjusted diluted earnings per share growing 12.7% to $1.69.—
Kevin Ryan,
Quartz,
23 Apr. 2025
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Net income was $646 million, or 34 cents per diluted share.—
Glenn Taylor,
Sourcing Journal,
21 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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By the time Brunson and Hart were cleared to check back in, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau had a decision to make: call his final timeout, intentionally foul, or wait for a dead ball to make the subs.—
Kristian Winfield,
New York Daily News,
30 Apr. 2025
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However, the way this is happening has the vibe of last year’s midseason adjustment, when the NBA decided to enforce foul rules differently and turned the game more physical with time still to go in the regular season.—
The Athletic NBA Staff,
New York Times,
30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Tom Hardy stars in the neo-noir crime thriller as a corrupt detective named Walker, who shoots, punches, and drop-kicks his way through an entire criminal underworld to rescue the estranged son of dirty politician Lawrence Beaumont (Forest Whitaker).—
Mike Miller,
EW.com,
26 Apr. 2025
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Viewers will remember that Sheppard showed up in the season premiere, when his investigation of a deadly biker gang intersected with the Organized Crime Control Bureau’s pursuit of a dirty trucking company.—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
25 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The company in 2020 pleaded guilty to distributing adulterated ice-cream products and agreed to pay a fine over the outbreak.—
Dylan Tokar,
WSJ,
2 Feb. 2023
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And while most of those overdoses involved the illicit synthetic opioid fentanyl, experts say that an adulterated and contaminated drug supply is also leading to deaths.—
Nadia Kounang,
CNN,
17 Mar. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Impure.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impure. Accessed 6 May. 2025.
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