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
Set an alarm to purposefully wake up in the middle of the night, stay awake for 30 minutes to two hours and then go back to sleep.
—
Hannah Yasharoff, USA Today, 28 Oct. 2025
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
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
Hannah Yasharoff, USA Today, 28 Oct. 2025
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
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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Dispatch audio obtained by PEOPLE confirmed that Kneeland’s girlfriend dialed 911, afraid that the football star would intentionally harm himself.—
Angel Saunders,
PEOPLE,
7 Nov. 2025
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The city of Craig has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle claims brought by a man who suffered major injuries after a law enforcement officer intentionally plowed into him with an SUV.—
Sam Tabachnik,
Denver Post,
7 Nov. 2025
Adverb
-
There’s nobody who works harder than Cristobal.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
3 Nov. 2025
-
And even harder, the task ahead for that leader.—
Stephen J. Nesbitt,
New York Times,
3 Nov. 2025
Adverb
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Judge Richard Taranto, writing in dissent, countered that Congress had deliberately given presidents broad discretion under IEEPA to handle emergencies involving national security or foreign commerce.—
Robert Alexander,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
-
Still, humans have done more damage by deliberately planting the honeysuckle in the first place, some say.—
Sophie Hartley,
IndyStar,
5 Nov. 2025
Adverb
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And managers are reluctant to crack down too intensively.—
Peter Bart,
Deadline,
23 Oct. 2025
-
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
Adverb
-
According to Adams, Koehler forced the woman from her upstairs bedroom down to downstairs, purposely disorienting her — the basis for the kidnapping charge he was also found guilty of.—
Grethel Aguila,
Miami Herald,
3 Nov. 2025
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The premiere ends with a shocking bit of violence that upends the way the two movies unfolded — purposely, IT filmmakers Andy and Barbara Muschietti told The Hollywood Reporter (spoilers contained in that link).—
Rick Porter,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Oct. 2025
Adverb
-
The top four appropriators, Cole, Collins, House ranking member Rosa DeLauro (D-MA), and Senate ranking member Patty Murray (D-WA), have to diligently work together in an effort to achieve the tough process of passing 12 appropriations bills across the floor of both chambers.—
Rachel Schilke,
The Washington Examiner,
23 Oct. 2025
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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
Adverb
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Many are intensely private, so part of the heritage director’s role is to cultivate mutually beneficial relationships.—
Paige Reddinger,
Robb Report,
8 Nov. 2025
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At the same time, Always Greener is an intensely personal project.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
5 Nov. 2025
Adverb
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Though the talk was of the details of a life, the shadow that hung above our conversation, as one had hung above that life, was intently political.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
30 Oct. 2025
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Rufus gathers from the firefighters that a gas main probably exploded while Mark captures, in his phone, the image of a man hovering by the accident, staring intently ahead like a ghost.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
29 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Purposefully.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purposefully. Accessed 10 Nov. 2025.
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