purposefully

purposefully
purposely, purposefully
Purposely is the older word (15c) and means ‘on purpose, intentionally’

• (We've purposely changed our programmes on Tuesday to fit in with the Royal timetable —BBC Press Release, 2002 [OEC])

whereas the more recent word purposefully (19c) corresponds to the adjective purposeful and means ‘with a strong purpose, resolutely’:

• He threw down a handful of sovereigns without even looking at Sam, then strode purposefully after the Squire —S. Langley, 2006.

A third word, purposively (20c), means ‘for a particular purpose’, and is more usual in technical contexts:

• Socialism…would have to be built by active human beings working purposively and creatively —J. Dignan et al., 1992.

Occasionally purposively is used when purposefully is probably meant:

• ‘Gerrart-of-it!’ said the larger of the two, moving purposively towards me —Will Self, 1993.


Modern English usage. 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • purposefully — index knowingly, purposely Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • purposefully — See purposely, purposefully …   Dictionary of problem words and expressions

  • purposefully — adv. Purposefully is used with these verbs: ↑avoid, ↑march, ↑stride …   Collocations dictionary

  • purposefully — purposeful ► ADJECTIVE 1) having or showing determination. 2) having a purpose. DERIVATIVES purposefully adverb purposefulness noun …   English terms dictionary

  • purposefully — adverb in a purposeful manner he caught the motorcycles in the full glare of his headlights, braked and slipped purposefully out of the car • Derived from adjective: ↑purposeful …   Useful english dictionary

  • purposefully - purposely — ◊ purposefully If someone does something purposefully, they do it in a way that suggests that they have a definite purpose and a strong desire to achieve this purpose. A large young woman stepped purposefully towards John Franklyn. He walked… …   Useful english dictionary

  • purposefully adv — The cat seems happy now it s been fed, said Tom purposefully …   English expressions

  • Purposefully — Purposeful Pur pose*ful, a. Important; material. Purposeful accounts. Tylor. {Pur pose*ful*ly}, adv. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • purposefully — adverb see purposeful …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • purposefully — See purposeful. * * * …   Universalium

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