Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Having a purpose; intentional: a purposeful musician.
- adj. Having or manifesting purpose; determined: entered the room with a purposeful look.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Characterized by purpose or definite aim; having an object in view; full of purpose or meaning; of serious import or significance: opposed to aimless.
- Hence Intended; made or introduced on purpose.
Wiktionary
- adj. Having purpose; intentional.
- adj. Having a purpose in mind; resolute; determined.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Important; material.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. having meaning through having an aim
- adj. serving as or indicating the existence of a purpose or goal
Etymologies
- purpose + -ful (Wiktionary)
Examples
“He says that Canadians should employ what he calls purposeful spending.”
“The only operational definition I know of for "purposeful" is "utilizing negative feedback to approach a set point"; I can help you see how that definition is operational if you'd like.”
“Could it be that Obama is engaging in "purposeful inaction?”
“She dances, or rather engages in purposeful walking with one big dramatic drop into his arms, and a shirt tug.”
The Washington Post: 'Dancing with the Stars' Week 4: We watch so you don't have to
“But his most recent two near-future books have a very different tack: highlighting people using technology in purposeful, directed ways with very human expressive motives: making movies and playing political cat-and-mouse.”
“Research indicates that children who engage in purposeful play and structured activities acquire a range of skills and abilities that provide a strong foundation for later learning and development.”
The Importance of Books and Reading in Early Learning « Literacy Articles « Articles « Literacy News
“I think 'human thoughts and considerations can be and are purposeful' is one of those assumptions.”
“However the fact that many living systems can obviously still modify themselves in purposeful, intelligent response to internal and environmental challenges can be viewed by non materialists as evidence against materialism.”
“Behe's discussion that life, the moon and the universe in general "can be viewed" as purposeful is obviously Behe's philosophical outlook (one he is certainly entitled to have).”
“In many tales, the Jewish family is depicted as false, destructive, and destructible, in purposeful contrast to the true and loving but equally fragile Christian family.”
A Tender Age: Cultural Anxieties over the Child in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘purposeful’.
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Dominant/Submissive
abusive, adamant, autocratic, bossy, bullheaded, bumptious, certain, cock-a-hoop, cocksure, cocky, commanding, compelling and 189 more...
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My Self-Descriptors: A Mirror of Text
Read this list, and read it well. When you finish, you'll know me better than my mother. That is, unless she reads this list too.
libertarian, unorthodox, unfinished, sincere, frugal, lanky, introspective, critical, laid-back, taciturn, lexiphilic, kindly and 115 more...
Tweets
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