pure

pure [ pjur ] adjective ***

1. ) usually before noun a pure substance or material has nothing mixed with it that might spoil its quality or effect:

pure gold/alcohol

─ opposite IMPURE

a ) a pure sound, color, light, etc. is very clear and beautiful:

The flowers were a pure white.

the pure sound of children laughing

b ) a pure form of art does not have any practical purpose, such as selling something:

You could separate it from its political message and just look at it as pure poetry.

c ) a pure subject of study, especially in science, deals only with theory and not with the way the theory is used:

pure mathematics

2. ) only before noun complete and total, used for emphasis:

a scream of pure terror

pure chance/coincidence/luck: Perhaps it was pure chance that the other woman happened to be there.

3. ) a pure person or pure behavior is free from wrong, especially in sexual matters:

He cannot claim to have led an absolutely pure life.

It is hard to be humble, and nobody is pure.

─ opposite IMPURE

pure and simple

used for saying that there is no additional explanation for something:

The murder was vengeance, pure and simple.

pure as the driven snow

completely pure, often used for suggesting the opposite:

I hardly think she was as pure as the driven snow.

╾ pure|ness noun uncount