pure

Definitions

Straight from Latin pūrus, "unmixed." The single image — one thing, nothing else blended in — stretches across every use: pure water has no dirt, pure gold has no other metal, pure joy has no other feeling mixed in, and a pure heart has no wrongdoing in it.

Why It Means This

The most useful thing about pure is how one idea — "nothing else mixed in" — works in completely different worlds. With a substance it means clean (pure water). With an amount it means total (pure luck, pure nonsense). With a person it means morally clean (a pure heart). Once you see the single thread, all the meanings line up.

Common Collocations

• 1.pure water纯净水
• 2.pure gold纯金
• 3.pure luck纯属运气
• 4.pure joy纯粹的喜悦
• 5.pure coincidence纯属巧合

Example Sentences

• 1.

  This bottle is filled with pure spring water from the mountains.

• 2.

  The ring is made of pure gold, with no other metal added.

• 3.

  Finding the lost ticket in his pocket was pure luck.

• 4.

  Her face lit up with pure joy when she saw the puppy.

Easily Confused

pure vs purified — pure describes something that is naturally unmixed (pure gold straight from the mine). purified describes something that was made clean by removing impurities (purified water that was treated). If a process did the cleaning, use purified.

Synonym Comparison