1
as in intentionally
with full awareness of what one is doing
he purposefully chose the more difficult route to the mountain summit
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in hard
with great effort or determination
strode purposefully into the boss's office, determined to ask for a raise
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of purposefully
The Athletic recently outlined a novel approach that sides are trialling against Barcelona, in which No 9s are purposefully left offside to be played on by overlapping team-mates later in the move.
—
Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
One of the defendants texted another co-conspirator that Billups should purposefully lose a hand to avoid cheating suspicions.
—Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 24 Oct. 2025
Ultimately, Hedda is a stunning reimagining that painstakingly and purposefully builds towards an astonishing climax.
—Kathleen Newman-Bremang, Refinery29, 23 Oct. 2025
The singer’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour, which is scheduled to run from December through July 2026, is purposefully not stopping in the States.
—Zack Sharf, Variety, 22 Oct. 2025
Supervisor Kate Brophy McGee said the audit was purposefully designed to smear the Sheriff's Office.
—Richard Ruelas, AZCentral.com, 22 Oct. 2025
Even though the prosecutor knew this critical information that would have exonerated me, the prosecutor purposefully withheld this information from myself and my defense team for nearly 8 months.
—Micah Kimball, Denver Post, 16 Oct. 2025
Prisoners feared they were purposefully trapped in the A Tunnel, sitting ducks for a response from corrections officers.
—Michael Collins, USA Today, 14 Oct. 2025
Like Sly Stone’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On or Marvin Gaye’s Here, My Dear, Voodoo is purposefully difficult music.
—Touré, Rolling Stone, 14 Oct. 2025
Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
One of the defendants texted another co-conspirator that Billups should purposefully lose a hand to avoid cheating suspicions.
—Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 24 Oct. 2025
Ultimately, Hedda is a stunning reimagining that painstakingly and purposefully builds towards an astonishing climax.
—Kathleen Newman-Bremang, Refinery29, 23 Oct. 2025
The singer’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour, which is scheduled to run from December through July 2026, is purposefully not stopping in the States.
—Zack Sharf, Variety, 22 Oct. 2025
Supervisor Kate Brophy McGee said the audit was purposefully designed to smear the Sheriff's Office.
—Richard Ruelas, AZCentral.com, 22 Oct. 2025
Even though the prosecutor knew this critical information that would have exonerated me, the prosecutor purposefully withheld this information from myself and my defense team for nearly 8 months.
—Micah Kimball, Denver Post, 16 Oct. 2025
Prisoners feared they were purposefully trapped in the A Tunnel, sitting ducks for a response from corrections officers.
—Michael Collins, USA Today, 14 Oct. 2025
Like Sly Stone’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On or Marvin Gaye’s Here, My Dear, Voodoo is purposefully difficult music.
—Touré, Rolling Stone, 14 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for purposefully
Adverb
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Sanders has since been charged with intentionally abandoning a child younger than 15 without intent to return, a third-degree felony charge in Texas, according to court documents.—
Bailey Richards,
PEOPLE,
26 Oct. 2025
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In February 2025, umpire Pat Hoberg was fired by MLB for sharing his legal sports gambling accounts with a friend who bet on baseball games and for intentionally deleting electronic messages pertinent to the league’s investigation.—
Ryan Canfield,
FOXNews.com,
25 Oct. 2025
Adverb
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In police bodycam footage shown in The Perfect Neighbor, Lorincz claims that Owens had been banging on her locked front door so hard that her house started shaking.—
Allison DeGrushe,
Entertainment Weekly,
20 Oct. 2025
-
Every day, we are inundated with imagery urging us to work harder, buy more … and never stop.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
20 Oct. 2025
Adverb
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Perhaps its message is meant to be deliberately ambiguous—or maybe there’s no message at all.—
Shirley Li,
The Atlantic,
22 Oct. 2025
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The pending trial is one of many alleging that social media technology companies have deliberately created platforms and features that cause harm to younger users and damage their mental health.—
Samantha Subin,
CNBC,
21 Oct. 2025
Adverb
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Leyla’s was a Frenchman, an art collector twice her age, who picked her up in one of Moscow’s posh night clubs and began to educate her intensively.—
Julia Ioffe,
New Yorker,
19 Oct. 2025
-
Because there were only seven minutes left in the game, however, the 49ers quarterback instead gobbled three bananas while trainers intensively kneaded the muscles in his arm.—
Matt Barrows,
New York Times,
8 Oct. 2025
Adverb
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Prouse's priority was to avoid any child feeling labeled or purposely assigned to a table that wasn't as academically strong.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
14 Oct. 2025
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Taken together, Showing Up and Night Moves thematically foreshadow Reichardt’s critique of James in The Mastermind by purposely pushing real-world problems to the margins.—
Robert Daniels,
Time,
10 Oct. 2025
Adverb
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While many companies initially invested diligently in their AI teams and development, the technology has sometimes led to those exact roles being deemed unnecessary.—
Suzanne Blake,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 Oct. 2025
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This self-emptying Shark robot vacuum has powerful suction and mopping capabilities, and works diligently to clean small spaces like under your bed or couch.—
Alanna Martine Kilkeary,
Glamour,
17 Oct. 2025
Adverb
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Make sure to eat a balanced diet and get adequate calories when exercising intensely.—
Wendy Wisner,
Health,
24 Oct. 2025
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Bottles may feature a variety of whole, colorful peppers, and the flavor is more acidic than intensely spicy.—
Katie Rosenhouse,
Southern Living,
22 Oct. 2025
Adverb
-
People listen to you intently today.—
USA TODAY,
USA Today,
19 Oct. 2025
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The Reluctant Traveler, listening intently as the heir to the throne opens up like never before.—
Erin Hill,
PEOPLE,
7 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Purposefully.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purposefully. Accessed 27 Oct. 2025.
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