purposive
/ˈpɚpəsɪv/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.97 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Serving a particular purpose; useful; adapted to a given purpose, especially through natural evolution.
adj
Pertaining to or demonstrating purpose.
adj
Of a clause or conjunction: expressing purpose.
Example Sentences
- "Irresistably it came to me again that beauty, far from being wasted, was purposive, that this purpose was of a redeeming kind, and that some one who was pleased co-operated with it for my personal benefit."
- "As we saw in our discussion of the FAKE GUN example in chapter 19, there are natural dimensions to our categories for objects: […] purposive, based on the uses we can make of an object in a given situation."
- "Most human activity is purposive."
- "It would have been quite impossible to use the A vocabulary for literary purposes or for political or philosophical discussion. It was intended only to express simple, purposive thoughts, usually involving concrete objects or physical actions."
- "Other ecclesiastics [...] were similarly accepting of a space for purposive and beneficent human action and betterment in a disenchanted world."
- "Ursula could not believe the air in her nostrils. It seemed conscious, malevolent, purposive in its intense murderous coldness."
Etymology
Etymology tree Middle English purpos English purpose Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Latin -īvus Old French -ifbor. Middle English -yf English -ive English purposive From purpose + -ive. Compare purpositive.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpɚpəsɪv/
- British English: /ˈpəːpəsɪv/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more purposive (comparative)
most purposive (superlative)