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purposely

adverb

Simple meaning

With intention; in an intentional manner.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

purpuhslee

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈpɝpəsli

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adverb

  1. On purpose; intentionally.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Primarily written

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

purposely leftpurposely madepurposely keptpurposely avoidedpurposely designedpurposely setpurposely selected

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • purposenounBase word

    An anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • purposefuladjectiveDerived adjective

    Serving as or indicating the existence of a purpose or goal.

  • purposefullyadverbDerived adverb

    In a purposeful manner.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: on purpose

deliberatelydesignedlyRare

Antonyms

Sense: on purpose

unintentionally

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.