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
Relevance
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of purposefully
The excavation process has been purposefully slow to avoid further collapse, and rescue forces have worked in shifts to carefully remove the debris.
—
Helen Regan, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2025
Bubba purposefully knocks a girl down with a dodgeball, and when Mary tells him to stop being mean, Bubba punches her.
—Victoria Edel, PEOPLE, 1 Oct. 2025
Some of these deportation efforts have been purposefully dehumanizing, like the opening of Alligator Alcatraz.
—William D. Lopez, Time, 29 Sep. 2025
Sanford rammed his truck through the front doors of the church on Sunday morning during service and purposefully set fire to the building.
—Peter Aitken, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Sep. 2025
Where proponents see a set of measures intended to allow people a seat at the table who had been purposefully excluded for generations, opponents see a special preference given based on race or gender rather than merit.
—Kayla Dwyer, IndyStar, 25 Sep. 2025
Black delivered that report before the management committee of EXXON, who purposefully buried those conclusions and continued to fund lobbyists, think tanks, and politicians who vociferously denied the reality of anthropogenic climate change.
—Ed Simon
september 24, Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2025
The concert was unpolished — purposefully so.
—Audrey Gibbs, Nashville Tennessean, 21 Sep. 2025
Nearing the end of his career, White is considered the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) among quarterbacks, having attained eight championship rings, a number that is purposefully one more than the consensus real-life GOAT, Tom Brady.
—Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2025
Helen Regan, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2025
Bubba purposefully knocks a girl down with a dodgeball, and when Mary tells him to stop being mean, Bubba punches her.
—Victoria Edel, PEOPLE, 1 Oct. 2025
Some of these deportation efforts have been purposefully dehumanizing, like the opening of Alligator Alcatraz.
—William D. Lopez, Time, 29 Sep. 2025
Sanford rammed his truck through the front doors of the church on Sunday morning during service and purposefully set fire to the building.
—Peter Aitken, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Sep. 2025
Where proponents see a set of measures intended to allow people a seat at the table who had been purposefully excluded for generations, opponents see a special preference given based on race or gender rather than merit.
—Kayla Dwyer, IndyStar, 25 Sep. 2025
Black delivered that report before the management committee of EXXON, who purposefully buried those conclusions and continued to fund lobbyists, think tanks, and politicians who vociferously denied the reality of anthropogenic climate change.
—Ed Simon
september 24, Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2025
The concert was unpolished — purposefully so.
—Audrey Gibbs, Nashville Tennessean, 21 Sep. 2025
Nearing the end of his career, White is considered the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) among quarterbacks, having attained eight championship rings, a number that is purposefully one more than the consensus real-life GOAT, Tom Brady.
—Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for purposefully
Adverb
-
Verbatim Thurgood Marshall In a speech marking the bicentennial of the US Constitution, Marshall argued that its framers intentionally inscribed slavery into the American economy.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
3 Oct. 2025
-
The Charlotte Observer asked CATS spokesperson Brett Baldeck whether the agency was intentionally shifting away from armed security.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
3 Oct. 2025
Adverb
-
Nobody worked harder in practice, and that became contagious to his teammates.—
Michael Russo,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
-
The best curtains on Amazon are hard-working pieces of home decor.—
Shoko Wanger,
Architectural Digest,
6 Oct. 2025
Adverb
-
City police said the blast before dawn in northern Munich at a residential building, which had been deliberately set on fire, appeared connected to a domestic dispute.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
1 Oct. 2025
-
Program officials set a two-year path to mass production following test completion, with full Taiwan manufacture and target unit costs in the low hundreds of thousands USD, deliberately priced for salvo fire.—
Kapil Kajal,
Interesting Engineering,
1 Oct. 2025
Adverb
-
Hydrolyzed proteins replenish lost amino acids that intensively nourish and maintain hair in a healthy, balanced state.—
Sophia Panych,
Allure,
16 Sep. 2025
-
Often, the soil was intensively and industrially farmed only a few years ago.—
Andy Wilcox,
Better Homes & Gardens,
11 Sep. 2025
Adverb
-
One day, calling kids up to get pizza for a class lunch, the teacher repeatedly and purposely bungled her name.—
Borys Kit,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Sep. 2025
-
In fact, the camera almost seems to purposely tilt up to reveal the second exit sign above her head, as if to call attention to it.—
Lauren Huff,
Entertainment Weekly,
28 Sep. 2025
Adverb
-
Over the course of the series, Heon has been diligently writing down and illustrating each of Ji-yeon’s culinary creations.—
Kayti Burt,
Time,
29 Sep. 2025
-
Tribal, local, and state law enforcement agencies are working diligently to bring the suspect to justice.—
Mandy Taheri,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 Sep. 2025
Adverb
-
The screenwriter, Nora Garrett, has achieved an amusingly florid Hollywood simulacrum—one that tilts into knowing parody—of an intensely self-regarding world.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
3 Oct. 2025
-
At some point, the Cubs believe, those intensely competitive instincts will take over.—
Patrick Mooney,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
Adverb
-
As several women listen intently, Belushi, donning a toga, rips the guitar out of Bishop's hands and smashes it into a wall.—
Mark Gray,
PEOPLE,
5 Oct. 2025
-
The pet cam showed Rio laying on the floor, directly in front of the television, watching it intently.—
Alyce Collins,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Purposefully.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purposefully. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share