Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Very or wonderfully well; having good health.
  • Without admixture or blemish; in such a way or to such a degree as to be free from anything that is heterogeneous or tends to impair.
  • Entirely; wholly; completely; thoroughly; absolutely; quite: as, the whole thing was purely accidental.
  • Very; wonderfully; remarkably: as, purely well.
  • Innocently; without guilt or sin; chastely.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb In a pure manner (in any sense of the adjective).
  • adverb Archaic Nicely; prettily.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb restricted to something

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From pure +‎ -ly.

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Examples

  • (P.S. I know you insist you use the term purely descriptively, but "just an arab apologist hypocrite" sounds very like an attempt to belittle or insult - in any event it adds nothing to the debate.)

    On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with... 2009

  • He was the first peer to receive the title purely because of his literary work.

    English Literature for Boys and Girls

  • A similar 2008 document noted that the defense policy is "purely" defensive in nature—the word "purely" is missing in the 2010 edition.

    The Carrier of Asia-Pacific Troubles Fumio Ota 2011

  • The white house says our troops in Iraq could eventually move to what it termed a purely support role like American troops in South Korea.

    CNN Transcript May 30, 2007 2007

  • They were glad for his sake, as much as for their own, that he was no longer President Grant, but again General Grant, a title purely reminiscent and complimentary, for he was no longer an officer of the army.

    Ulysses S. Grant Walter Allen 1873

  • In the first place, that they knew nothing of the name or how they got it; and next, that the word Mandan in the Welsh language (it being purely a Welsh word) means red dye, of which further mention will be made.

    O-kee-pa, a Religious Ceremony, and Other Customs of the Mandans 1867

  • On tracing the line of life backwards, we see it approaching more and more to what we call the purely physical condition.

    Fragments of science, V. 1-2 John Tyndall 1856

  • The plant is the first of what Iran says will be a network of nuclear facilities that will reduce reliance on its fossil fuels and is a showpiece of what it calls a purely peaceful atomic program.

    NYT > Home Page By REUTERS 2011

  • The plant is the first of what Iran says will be a network of nuclear facilities that will reduce reliance on its fossil fuels and is a showpiece of what it calls a purely peaceful atomic program.

    NYT > Home Page By REUTERS 2011

  • He first traveled to Tangier in 2006 on what he called a "purely random" impulse, drawn in part by the mythic portrayals of earlier expatriates like Paul Bowles and William S. Burroughs.

    NYT > Home Page By DENNIS LIM 2011

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