1
as in innocently
with purity of thought and deed the devout girl vowed to live her life purely and in the service of God

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

2
as in solely
for nothing other than I fish purely for the fun of it—I don't care if I end up with no fish to fry

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

3
as in only
nothing more than her pleasantries were purely for show and masked her true feelings

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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 purely Some are purely decorative, others are functional, like the elegant old boxes that hold remote controls. Caron Golden, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 July 2025 Iran has long said its stockpile of enriched uranium is intended purely for use in civilian nuclear power. David Brennan, ABC News, 25 July 2025 Not value in a purely financial sense, but value defined by the impact of care on a person's health, well-being and experience. David Faris, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 July 2025 Against this corporate financial quagmire, Wintour hasn’t made a complete mess of Vogue from a purely performance metric. Lilian Raji, Forbes.com, 19 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for purely
Recent Examples of Synonyms for purely
Adverb
  • Placing their hopes in an executive director to solely negotiate the next big wins contradicted the whole premise of solidarity.
    George Atallah, Sportico.com, 31 July 2025
  • In strong relationships, couples don’t rely solely on emotion to get them through.
    Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 31 July 2025
Adverb
  • The number of new jobs dipped well below even modest expectations, with only 73,000 positions added, compared to the Dow Jones estimate of 100,000.
    Anna Commander, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Aug. 2025
  • Individual runs only count on the scoreboard in the final frame.
    Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 1 Aug. 2025
Adverb
  • The laser knows if Ryan did not properly attach a line and a red light shows Ryan there's a problem and the tool used to finish the brake system will not work to complete the job until Ryan fixes the issue.
    Jamie L. LaReau, Freep.com, 30 July 2025
  • The teacher's response — prompting them for the definition — empowers the student to answer the question properly.
    Alec Johnson, jsonline.com, 30 July 2025
Adverb
  • Notably, these obligations do not arise exclusively from the Paris Agreement or the UNFCCC.
    Jon McGowan, Forbes.com, 26 July 2025
  • In a letter to Ethics Chairman Michael Guest (R-MS), obtained exclusively by the Washington Examiner, Rep. Rob Bresnahan’s (R-PA) lawyer stated that the congressman has placed two guardrails for his advisers to follow while managing his stock trades.
    Hailey Bullis, The Washington Examiner, 25 July 2025
Adverb
  • Sue just gives a few hundred people in NYC a little speech about family and then everything’s okay.
    Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 26 July 2025
  • Meanwhile, Lohan, who was 17 at the time and is now 39, was promoting Freaky Friday, which had just been released on DVD.
    Carson Blackwelder, People.com, 26 July 2025
Adverb
  • The comment quickly stirred debate online—some viewed it as a swipe at Dr. Dre, while others interpreted it as Quik simply affirming his own stature as a production powerhouse whose contributions have long flown under the radar.
    Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 23 July 2025
  • While most Eagles players were snapped flashing the gaudy bling, Hurts simply held the box in his photos.
    Dan Gelston, Chicago Tribune, 23 July 2025
Adverb
  • However, whether that demise exists or free agency is merely on a hiatus, inside is a smaller change.
    Joel Lorenzi, New York Times, 28 July 2025
  • Fantastic Four debuting to less than Superman is a bad sign for the MCU in more ways than merely this film’s own box office prospects.
    Mark Hughes, Forbes.com, 28 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Purely.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purely. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.

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