as in intentionally
with full awareness of what one is doing
the real estate agent purposely withheld information that would have discouraged us from buying the property
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Recent Examples of purposely
One of her neighbors, a county official, claimed Bench had purposely made a wide turn and nearly hit him with her car.
—
Ryan J. Foley, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2026
The situation has caused a pile-on of speculation and allegations—including from some of its competitors—that the company is purposely degrading performance owing to a lack of compute capacity.
—Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 14 Apr. 2026
The couple purposely separated the girls from Bateman so the FBI could conduct the raid.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 10 Apr. 2026
The Boston Bruins purposely unfollowed every other NHL team’s Instagram account, which NHL Follow Tracker revealed.
—Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for purposely
Ryan J. Foley, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2026
The situation has caused a pile-on of speculation and allegations—including from some of its competitors—that the company is purposely degrading performance owing to a lack of compute capacity.
—Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 14 Apr. 2026
The couple purposely separated the girls from Bateman so the FBI could conduct the raid.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 10 Apr. 2026
The Boston Bruins purposely unfollowed every other NHL team’s Instagram account, which NHL Follow Tracker revealed.
—Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for purposely
Recent Examples of Synonyms for purposely
Adverb
-
Many of the same tools and principles that make content accessible also boost visibility—when they’re used intentionally.—
Rochelle Ratkaj,
Rolling Stone,
23 Apr. 2026
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First Citizens intentionally delayed the integration of Silicon Valley Bank because, in 2023, deposit losses at Silicon Valley Bank lingered, and First Citizens wanted to focus on stabilizing that.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
23 Apr. 2026
Adverb
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An ocean away, a sandy trail in the ponderosa forests of northern Arizona demands treading just as deliberately when walkers reach a line of tree stumps arranged as stepping stones.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
22 Apr. 2026
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But some movies, either deliberately or inadvertently, manage to offer glimpses into the future, either through visions of technological advances or predicted social and political trends.—
David Faris,
TheWeek,
22 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Purposely.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purposely. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.
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