pure

adjective

1 NOT MIXED not mixed with anything else: Is this sweater made of pure wool? | The cocaine was 95% pure. | The purest form of the southern accent can be heard in Tennessee.

2 pure chance/greed/hell etc complete chance etc: By pure chance my boss was flying on the same plane as me. | “How was the exam?” “Pure hell!” | a work of pure genius | the pure thrill of living

3 CLEAN clean, without anything harmful or unhealthy: The air by the sea is pure and healthy. | pure drinking water

4 WITHOUT EVIL having no evil ideas or plans, especially no sexual thoughts or experience; innocent 1 (4): a pure young girl | I'm sure he had the purest of motives.

5 COLOUR clear and not mixed with other colours: a cloudless sky of the purest blue

6 SOUND very clear and beautiful to hear: a pure note | a lovely pure soprano

7 ART a pure form of art is done exactly according to an accepted standard or pattern

8 as pure as the driven snow an expression meaning morally perfect, often used jokingly to describe someone who is not like this at all

9 pure and simple especially spoken used to say that there is only one reason for something: The mistake was due to carelessness, pure and simple.

10 pure science/mathematics etc work done in science etc in order to increase our knowledge of it rather than to make practical use of it: pure and applied research

—compare applied, —see also: impure, purely, purify, purity — pureness noun (U)