purposes 1 of 2

noun

plural of purpose
1
as in goals
something that one hopes or intends to accomplish the purpose of the research is to discover how the virus is transmitted

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in roles
the action for which a person or thing is specially fitted or used or for which a thing exists still trying to discover her purpose in life

Synonyms & Similar Words

purposes

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of purpose
as in plans
to have in mind as a purpose or goal I've been purposing to fix that thing for some time now

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 purposes
Noun
By the end of Saturday night, the sanctuary had served two purposes at once. — Kansas City Star, 3 Sep. 2026 The other scan—the spatial scan—employs a less powerful instrument called an Xgrid Portalcam, and serves several different purposes. — Margherita Bassi, Popular Science, 3 Sep. 2026 Unlike closed models, open-source AI models like those hosted on Hugging Face allow companies and developers to download the parameters that determine how a model functions and customize them for specific purposes. — Clare Duffy, CNN Money, 3 Sep. 2026 Different kinds of insects could be used for varied purposes and could be a valuable asset for disaster relief in the future. — Devika Rao, TheWeek, 3 Sep. 2026 The two Korean nationals who were kidnapped had such a permission to remain in Haiti for business purposes, the ministry added. — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 3 Sep. 2026 Anthropic wanted assurance that its technology would not be used for fully autonomous weapons or domestic mass surveillance, and the DOD wanted Anthropic to grant the agency unfettered access to Claude across all lawful purposes. — Ashley Capoot, CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026 Governments generally don’t need a model that’s as powerful as what’s on the frontier to automate a few tasks; Ting explains that a tiny model, even one with as few as 1 billion parameters, can suit those purposes. — Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2026 The number of satellites in orbit now is around 18,000, but it’s expected to reach 100,000 in 2030, driven sharply by the growth of LEO networks for communications and other purposes. — IEEE Spectrum, 20 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for purposes
  1. goals
  2. roles
  3. plans
  4. objectives
  5. tasks
  6. intends
  7. aims
  8. functions
Noun
  • Boise’s City Council on Tuesday denied an appeal from the Cathedral of the Rockies seeking to pave a parking area adjacent to its North End church, dealing a blow to an application that pit arguments of religious freedom against municipal goals.
    — Mark Dee, Idaho Statesman, 3 Sep. 2026
  • One of the goals behind the Lele pop-up for Uditi, who grew up in Caserta, outside of Naples, was to highlight the cuisine of his native Campania.
    — Margy Rochlin, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of goals
Noun
  • Elektra was previously the editor-in-chief at Selfridges, looking after content and editorial, and has held senior roles at i-D and Vice.
    — Elektra Kotsoni, Vogue, 4 Sep. 2026
  • The case turned into a years-long legal saga, with multiple people convicted of their roles in arranging the hit, including Wendi’s brother, Charlie Adelson, and her mother, Donna.
    — Jordana Comiter, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of roles
Verb
  • And regardless of whether General Motors plans on selling these to a wider audience or just a select few—or even just one person like Porsche did for Roger Penske—the task of dumbing down one of the world’s most advanced race cars is no small feat.
    — Jerry Perez, The Drive, 3 Sep. 2026
  • The office plans to be on site Thursday to talk with residents.
    — Fedor Zarkhin, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of plans
Noun
  • Russian forces have long targeted the strategic cities of Kostyantynivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk as part of a push to completely capture the Donetsk Oblast, one of the Kremlin’s key objectives in the conflict.
    — Sam Meredith, CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Technical objectives and operational milestones are expected to be disclosed as the programs progress.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of objectives
Noun
  • Once a process to curate guest lists for elaborate events, now restaurateurs can fire off a quick direct message to an influencer between kitchen tasks.
    — Lyndsay C. Green, Freep.com, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Summary Chinese economist Tang Min states AI reshapes job tasks more than eliminating positions, creating new roles despite global anxiety.
    — Russell Flannery, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of tasks
Verb
  • The campaign intends to hire a Jewish liaison and is in the midst of an interview process for the role, which includes talking with Jewish community leaders, a person familiar with the campaign told JTA.
    — Andrew Lapin, Sun Sentinel, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Sebastian Kim, head of the content business Unit at CJ ENM, said the series had opened a door the company intends to keep pushing through.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of intends
Noun
  • Moving away from a retrospective punishment mechanism appealed to Portsmouth too, as did the shift to a focus on liquidity, something which meshes with the aims of the independent football regulator, which recently came into operation in England.
    — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Vance’s comments also seemed to suggest that the administration was more acutely focused on the economic impact of the war than the original aims of the war itself.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of aims
Noun
  • The bike also has a programmable control system that can provide functions such as boost, wheel-lift assistance, speed limiting and what Bonnell calls E-Clutch functionality (more on that later).
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 2 Sep. 2026
  • There have also been about 2,000 staff cuts, and consolidations of various functions.
    — David Moin, Footwear News, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of functions

Browse Nearby Words

purposely
purposes
purposing
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Cite this Entry

“Purposes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purposes. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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