1
as in intentionally
with full awareness of what one is doing
he purposefully chose the more difficult route to the mountain summit
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in hard
with great effort or determination
strode purposefully into the boss's office, determined to ask for a raise
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of purposefully
The scheme generally revolved around fixers recruiting players with the promise of a big payment in exchange for those players purposefully underperforming during a game, prosecutors said.
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Dallas Morning News, 15 Jan. 2026
One of those blew up on its landing attempt while another was purposefully expended to get its payload to a higher orbital insertion.
—Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 14 Jan. 2026
Lore is purposefully keeping its membership low, at $225 per month with a $25 surcharge on weekends, to try to get clients into a routine of coming several times a week.
—Marisa Meltzer, Vanity Fair, 14 Jan. 2026
And it’s only gotten harder, because in America our current government has quite purposefully and cynically co-opted a lot of conspiratorial thinking to muddy the waters to further their own cultural and political project.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 13 Jan. 2026
Welcoming living rooms always feel airy and seamless if the furniture is set purposefully to match how natural the room feels.
—Ashlyn Needham, The Spruce, 12 Jan. 2026
Her fashionable purple pinstripe dress is purposefully flowy, loose-fitting and short-sleeved, a nod to how some people with autism prefer to keep fabric from touching their skin as much as possible.
—Jacqueline Howard, CNN Money, 12 Jan. 2026
Vagueposting is when people purposefully post or comment without any context, requiring people who want to know more to dig deeper or even outright ask what — or who — the post is about.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 11 Jan. 2026
And who’s to say that if Lovin’ Life moved forward with its plans for 2026 — and was facing steep challenges in the form of things like, say, radius clauses — that Bank of America Stadium wouldn’t book Bad Bunny or Foo Fighters for the same weekend, whether purposefully or just by pure coincidence?
—Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 8 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for purposefully
Adverb
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The Justice Department countered at an October 2025 hearing that detainees were never intentionally barred from contact with attorneys, but that circumstances during unrest on the streets over ICE immigration operations caused conditions at B-18 that were far from normal.—
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In a recent interview with ABC affiliate WXLV, Marissa's sister, Emma Villegas, maintained that her sibling did not intentionally disappear.—
Adverb
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Stevens said the loss of Lea’e’s father hit the team hard.—
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Worse, the tariff burden is a regressive tax that falls hardest on lower-income households and small businesses with less bargaining power.—
Adverb
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The Arabs deliberately placed the Arab refugees and their descendants in refugee camps as pawns in the propaganda war against Israel.—
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Echols said lawmakers deliberately chose broad language to avoid closing the door on people whose cases might not fit narrow statutory definitions.—
Adverb
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This selective approach came after years of working intensively to support her two sons as a single mother.—
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So important are Rubicon units that the Ukrainian security services are now intensively searching out their forward bases.—
Adverb
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Kiyan purposely keeps his circle small.—
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Arizona state law mandates drivers can't purposely bypass going through a stop sign or stoplight, according to ARS 28-651.—
Adverb
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Detectives are working diligently to solve this case.—
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With its goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2060, China is working diligently to move away from fossil fuels toward non-carbon-emitting energy sources.—
Adverb
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The Gulf States in particular are lobbying intensely for the United States to forego any future military action against the Islamic regime, a diplomat with knowledge of the situation confirmed to the Washington Examiner.—
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The latest iteration has now brought the record back to the Bells in what has been an intensely competitive race.—
Adverb
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Yang listened intently to Borchers during his court appearance.—
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The jury watched intently as witness Amy Marin described running to get her phone to call 911 about a vehicle crash, only for concern to turn to panic when the truck driver emerged with a gun.—
Cite this Entry
“Purposefully.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purposefully. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
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