purpose-like

Put him in a situation where he had a purpose-like being a salesman-or where somebody came up to him, then he could charm a woman with the best of them.

More Twisted Stories Vol II Deaver, Jeffery 2006

They are everywhere the same, keen, quick-witted for chances, markedly self-interested, purpose-like, thrifty, frugal, on the whole regarding honesty as the best policy, independent in manner as in character, and without a trace of “Oriental servility.”

The Golden Chersonese and the way thither Isabella Lucy 2004

So many girls do things in a dreamy, dawdling way, that must be a sore trial to those about them: if a thing has to be done, you should do it in a quick, purpose-like way, and not waste your own time and other people's temper.

Stray Thoughts for Girls Lucy H. M. Soulsby

Mrs Craig, a tidy purpose-like woman, was profuse in thanks to me for helping her husband.

The Narrative of Gordon Sellar Who Emigrated to Canada in 1825 Gordon Sellar

'P'raps you was a-goin' to say as it was what he was made for, purpose-like! 'observed Binks ironically.

The Captain's Bunk A Story for Boys M. B. Manwell

Did you know that Christianity was such a living and purpose-like thing?

The Greatest Thing in the World And Other Addresses 1920

Henry More, the Cambridge Platonists, yielded to it, when they devised their hypothesis of a "plastic nature", or a sort of inferior soul, which caused the processes of life in organic beings and directed in a purpose-like manner the activity of physical nature.

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 7: Gregory XII-Infallability 1840-1916 1913

I take a notion of living a more purpose-like life, is to make a general redding up of my drawers and presses, etc.!

New Letters and Memorials of Jane Welsh Carlyle 1893

They are everywhere the same, keen, quick-witted for chances, markedly self-interested, purpose-like, thrifty, frugal, on the whole regarding honesty as the best policy, independent in manner as in character, and without a trace of "Oriental servility."

The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither Isabella Lucy 1883

The purpose-like is that which approves itself, and not always that which is struggled for by obscure impulses and desires.

Unconscious Memory Samuel Butler 1868