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
But the Constitution does not guarantee a painless death, and human life cannot be purposefully extinguished without some risk of pain.
—
Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 10 June 2026
The latter is especially a shame, as the scenes following RuPaul’s President Judy Gagwell are the closest the purposefully unserious film comes to approaching pointed satire.
—Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 9 June 2026
This allows for changing the climate fan speed, display backgrounds, song selection, and much more—though the programming purposefully changes each response based on the context of what’s currently happening, which felt more inconsistent than convenient.
—ArsTechnica, 9 June 2026
One of those blew up on its landing attempt while another was purposefully expended to get its payload to a higher orbital insertion.
—Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 June 2026
To this end, the team purposefully designed the AI’s training environment to be imperfect.
—Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 7 June 2026
Stagg’s wife The play doesn’t include scenes with Stagg’s wife, Elizabeth, but Haig purposefully bookends the film with the couple together.
—Emily Zemler, Los Angeles Times, 29 May 2026
But purposefully or not, CBS News’ changes in broadcast and political ideology have both cost them their remaining audience and alienated some remaining staff.
—Max Tani, semafor.com, 28 May 2026
What the evidence suggests is that investing purposefully in school leadership—from preparation through the full arc of a principal's career—is one of the highest-leverage investments a district or state can make.
—Linda Darling-Hammond, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026
Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 10 June 2026
The latter is especially a shame, as the scenes following RuPaul’s President Judy Gagwell are the closest the purposefully unserious film comes to approaching pointed satire.
—Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 9 June 2026
This allows for changing the climate fan speed, display backgrounds, song selection, and much more—though the programming purposefully changes each response based on the context of what’s currently happening, which felt more inconsistent than convenient.
—ArsTechnica, 9 June 2026
One of those blew up on its landing attempt while another was purposefully expended to get its payload to a higher orbital insertion.
—Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 June 2026
To this end, the team purposefully designed the AI’s training environment to be imperfect.
—Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 7 June 2026
Stagg’s wife The play doesn’t include scenes with Stagg’s wife, Elizabeth, but Haig purposefully bookends the film with the couple together.
—Emily Zemler, Los Angeles Times, 29 May 2026
But purposefully or not, CBS News’ changes in broadcast and political ideology have both cost them their remaining audience and alienated some remaining staff.
—Max Tani, semafor.com, 28 May 2026
What the evidence suggests is that investing purposefully in school leadership—from preparation through the full arc of a principal's career—is one of the highest-leverage investments a district or state can make.
—Linda Darling-Hammond, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for purposefully
Adverb
-
The Justice Department said last month that UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine intentionally used race for the last three years to discriminate against white and Asian applicants during admissions.—
Andrew J. Campa,
Los Angeles Times,
11 June 2026
-
The collection launched Thursday at Christian Louboutin Mount Street boutique in London, with availability intentionally limited to that location before the pairs are offered by appointment at Coco d’Adda’s Milan atelier.—
Jaden Thompson,
Footwear News,
11 June 2026
Adverb
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Many cities and school districts are trying hard to line up job opportunities for young people.—
Dianna Douglas,
NPR,
6 June 2026
-
With his gregarious nature and hard-drinking demeanor, Lobo is an intimidating extraterrestrial mercenary and bounty hunter, but his origin story is brutal, even by those standards.—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
6 June 2026
Adverb
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Adding scientists to the corps in the late 1960s, and deliberately recruiting women and Black astronauts in the 1970s, were widely hailed as steps the agency was taking back then towards diversity.—
Elizabeth Howell,
Space.com,
10 June 2026
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Although the 78 skeletons found piled atop one another in Vráble could suggest some kind of massacre took place, the researchers said their analyses so far indicate they were deliberately interred that way, potentially as part of a Neolithic cultural tradition.—
Emily Mae Czachor,
CBS News,
9 June 2026
Adverb
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One big concern is that screens are intensively stimulating for young people because they are held up close and engage young viewers with things such as fast cuts and colors.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
4 June 2026
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By the end of the seventeenth century, sassafras had become one of the primary exports of the early English colony of Jamestown, and the aromatic bark was harvested intensively for shipment to European markets.—
Kari Traylor,
JSTOR Daily,
30 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Maybe the bee wasn't purposely directing the ball towards the reward.—
Ari Daniel,
NPR,
7 June 2026
-
At one point Norris, the reigning world champion and last year’s Monaco winner, was asked by his team to purposely slow down and hold up Russell to try to help McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.—
Sahil Kapur,
NBC news,
7 June 2026
Adverb
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Take the time, too, to diligently shop around for rates and lenders, as shopping for a mortgage has historically been shown to result in a rate around half a percentage point or more below average.—
Matt Richardson,
CBS News,
8 June 2026
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Instead, it will be shaped by intelligent systems that help physicians make better decisions, collaborate more effectively, and where the entire patient journey is diligently managed.—
Dr. Jonathan Reichental,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026
Adverb
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But recent test scores show educators should also focus more intensely on adolescent learners and turning around academic outcomes in middle school, said Lesley Muldoon, executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
10 June 2026
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Second, there’s the intensely personal relationship that Swift has fostered with her robust fanbase.—
Alli Rosenbloom,
CNN Money,
9 June 2026
Adverb
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Jack appeared to be just as tall as his dad, who could be seen intently watching the game.—
Skyler Caruso,
PEOPLE,
4 June 2026
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Not since David Beckham arrived to MLS in 2007 had the world so intently focused its attention of American domestic soccer.—
Paul Tenorio,
New York Times,
2 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Purposefully.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purposefully. Accessed 13 Jun. 2026.
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