pure

The word “pure” means not mixed with anything else; free from impurities or contamination. In plain terms, unmixed, unspoiled, or complete — used for substances, motives, and emphasis alike.

“Pure” is pronounced PYOOR (/ˈpjʊɹ/ in IPA).

Here is “pure” used in a sentence: “The spring water was pure enough to drink straight from the source.”

Words with a similar meaning to “pure” include chaste, cherry, clean, flawless, halal and ideal.

The opposite of “pure” — its antonyms — are adulterated, contaminated, defiled, denatured and dirtied/dirty.

“Pure” is an adjective.

The word “pure” comes from Latin. From Old French pur, from Latin pūrus ("clean, unmixed, plain").

“Pure” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

Pure means unmixed, made of one substance with nothing else added, like pure gold. Clean means free from dirt or germs, but not necessarily of a single substance. Clean water has had contaminants removed; pure water is water and nothing else. Something can be clean without being pure, and pure without being spotless.

The main opposites are 'impure', 'contaminated', and 'adulterated', all meaning mixed with unwanted substances. 'Diluted' fits when something has been thinned with another liquid, and 'mixed' fits when different elements are combined. Where pure means clean and unmixed, its opposites describe something tainted or blended with other things.

Pure gold contains no other metals mixed in. Pure water holds no minerals, chemicals, or impurities. 'Pure wool' means the fabric is nothing but wool. The word also works figuratively: 'pure joy' or 'pure luck' means an emotion or outcome unmixed with anything else. Each shows one thing with nothing added.

In everyday terms, yes, since 'pure' describes something with no meaningful trace of other substances, like pure gold or pure spring water. In strict scientific terms, absolute purity is very hard to reach, because tiny impurities almost always remain. So 'pure' usually means pure enough for its purpose rather than perfectly flawless.