purely

English

Etymology

From pure +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpjɔːli/, /ˈpjʊəli/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: (UK) -ɔːli, (UK) -ʊəli

Adverb

purely (comparative more purely, superlative most purely)

1. (now US regional) Wholly; really, completely. [from 14th c.]
   • 1962, Warren Miller, Flush Times:

     I am fascinated by the entire scene, I purely am.

2. Solely; exclusively; merely, simply. [from 14th c.]
   • 8 April 2005, Owen Bowcott, The Guardian:

     The IRA should "lead by example" and "unilaterally" abandon paramilitary violence and adopt a purely political strategy, a leading Sinn Féin MP urged yesterday.

   • 2007, Helen Brooks, His Christmas Bride:

     "But this meal tonight is not a date, not in the traditional sense. It's purely platonic, I assure you."

3. Chastely, innocently; in a sinless manner, without fault. [from 15th c.]
   • c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vii]:

     faith and troth, / Strain'd purely from all hollow bias drawing: / Bids thee with most diuine integritie, / From heart of very heart, great Hector welcome.

4. (now rare) Without physical adulterants; refinedly, with no admixture. [from 16th c.]
   • 1823, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Table Talk:

     By some means or other the water flows purely, and separated from the filth, in a deeper and narrower course on one side of the rock, and the refuse of the dirt and troubled water goes off on the other in a broader current [...].

Synonyms

• (wholly): thoroughly, totally; see also Thesaurus:completely
• (solely): alone; see also Thesaurus:solely
• (chastely): guiltlessly, sinlessly; see also Thesaurus:innocently
• (refinedly): pristinely, unadulteratedly, undilutedly; see also Thesaurus:purely

Derived terms

• purely and simply
• purely imaginary
• purely imaginary number

 

Anagrams

• Purley