as in unlimited
not limited or specialized in application or purpose
a general-purpose glue for routine household repairs
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Recent Examples of general-purpose
Founded in 2022, Figure aims to build general-purpose humanoid robots, though Fortune’s Jason del Rey questioned whether the company was exaggerating the extent to which its robots were being deployed with BMW.
—
Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 16 Sep. 2025
This motivates our proposal of a modular explainable AI agent (XAI agent) that's powered by banking domain-specific LLMs rather than general-purpose models.
—Ravi Gedela, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Frontier models mean AIs that are trained on broad datasets, with general-purpose applications, for example, ChatGPT or Google Gemini, rather than a niche mobile app.
—PC Magazine, 14 Sep. 2025
Wise says that Agility has demonstrated this level of reliability in some specific applications, but not in the context of multipurpose or general-purpose functionality.
—IEEE Spectrum, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for general-purpose
Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 16 Sep. 2025
This motivates our proposal of a modular explainable AI agent (XAI agent) that's powered by banking domain-specific LLMs rather than general-purpose models.
—Ravi Gedela, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Frontier models mean AIs that are trained on broad datasets, with general-purpose applications, for example, ChatGPT or Google Gemini, rather than a niche mobile app.
—PC Magazine, 14 Sep. 2025
Wise says that Agility has demonstrated this level of reliability in some specific applications, but not in the context of multipurpose or general-purpose functionality.
—IEEE Spectrum, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for general-purpose
Recent Examples of Synonyms for general-purpose
Adjective
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Please consider supporting local journalism and getting unlimited digital access.—
Leah Olajide,
Freep.com,
1 Oct. 2025
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This year, Red Lobster also ran its Lobsterfest promotion, offering items like $20 lobster rolls and unlimited Cheddar Bay Biscuits.—
Sydney Lake,
Fortune,
1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Lawn chairs are permitted in the general festival areas.—
Haadiza Ogwude,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
5 Oct. 2025
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Financial advisors call this lifespan, or longevity, and is calculated individually by providing some general health and family history information.—
Medora Lee,
USA Today,
5 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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And the longer McDavid goes without a contract extension as unrestricted free agency approaches next summer, the more the superstar’s future with the Oilers comes into question.—
Eric Stephens,
New York Times,
1 Oct. 2025
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In 2024, Branches was one of six nonprofits in Miami-Dade to receive $2 million in unrestricted funds from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.—
Christina Mayo,
Miami Herald,
30 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“General-purpose.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/general-purpose. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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