# pure

/ˈpjʊɹ/ (US) · /pjˈɔː/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/pure
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. not mixed

adjective · CEFR B1

not mixed with anything else; made of only one substance.

For teachers: consisting of a single substance or element; free from any different or contaminating material.

- The ring is made of pure gold and is very expensive.
- The laboratory required a supply of pure oxygen to ensure that no outside gases interfered with the delicate chemical reaction.

### 2. clean and perfect

adjective · CEFR B2

clean, clear, and free from any marks or bad qualities.

For teachers: free from flaws, imperfections, or moral corruption; unsullied in character or appearance.

- The mountain air was pure and fresh after the rain.
- The singer's voice was noted for its pure tone, which remained clear even in the highest registers of the aria.

### 3. complete or total

adjective · CEFR B2

complete or total; used to emphasize how strong a feeling or situation is.

For teachers: absolute and unqualified; used as an intensifier to emphasize the totality of a state or quality.

- It was pure luck that we found the keys in the grass.
- The children's faces showed pure joy when they saw the snow falling for the first time that winter.

### 4. theoretical

adjective · CEFR C1 · Academic

studying something for its own sake, not for how it can be used in real life.

For teachers: concerned with theory and fundamental principles rather than practical applications.

- She prefers pure mathematics to the kind used in engineering.
- While applied physics focuses on technology, pure physics seeks to understand the fundamental laws governing the universe.

### 5. no side effects

adjective · CEFR C1 · Technical

describing a function that only uses its input and does not change anything else in the program.

For teachers: describing a function that always returns the same output for the same input and has no observable side effects.

- A pure function is easier to test because it doesn't change global variables.
- Functional programming languages encourage the use of pure functions to minimize state-related bugs in complex systems.

### 6. very or extremely

adverb · CEFR C1 · Dialect · Slang

very or extremely; used to make an adjective stronger.

For teachers: used as an intensifier meaning 'extremely' or 'totally'.

- That movie was pure brilliant.
- The weather was pure dead brilliant for the entire duration of our trip to the Highlands.

Teaching tip: This usage is particularly common in Scottish English and among younger speakers in certain urban areas of the UK.

### 7. to hit cleanly

verb · CEFR C2 · Informal

to hit a ball perfectly and cleanly in a sport like golf.

For teachers: to strike a ball with perfect timing and contact, resulting in a clean flight.

- He pured his 7-iron shot right onto the green.
- The golfer managed to pure his drive despite the heavy wind, sending the ball straight down the middle of the fairway.

## Examples

- The ring is made of pure gold.
- The mountain air felt pure and refreshing after a week in the polluted city.
- The mathematician sought a pure solution that relied solely on logic rather than empirical data or messy real-world approximations.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.