purple
adjective
pur·ple
| \ ˈpər-pəl
\
\
purpler\ ˈpər-p(ə-)lər
\;
purplest\ ˈpər-p(ə-)ləst
\
\;
purplest\ ˈpər-p(ə-)ləst
\
Definition of purple
(Entry 1 of 3)
1
: having a color between red and blue : of the color purple
a purple flower purple fabric … can only have left his antagonists purple with frustration.— Joseph Epstein
2a
: ornately and showily phrased or expressed
… the writing often descends into the purple prose of a besotted fan.— Stephen Holden … Rice is a first-rate writer. There are no purple patches in this narrative, and no attempts to sermonize.— Lawrence S. Cunningham
b
: marked by profanity
His language in public is so purple they had to stop broadcasting the meetings of the city council. — Newsweek
3
US politics
: having roughly equal levels of support for Democratic and Republican candidates or policies
…a blue candidate trying to swipe a red seat in a purple state.— Don Rollins … as the race pulled tighter than Paris Hilton's jeans, Kerry volunteers flooded the purple states to energize their voters—tens of thousands of them newly registered.— Michelle Cottle
— compare blue sense 9, red sense 5
purple
nounDefinition of purple (Entry 2 of 3)
1a(1)
: cloth dyed purple
(2)
: a garment of such color
especially
: a purple robe worn as an emblem of rank or authority
b(1)
: tyrian purple
(2)
: any of various colors that fall about midway between red and blue in hue
c(1)
: a mollusk (as of the genus Purpura) yielding a purple dye and especially the Tyrian purple of ancient times
(2)
: a pigment or dye that colors purple
2a
: imperial or regal rank or power
b
: high rank or station
purple
verb
purpled;
purpling\ ˈpər-p(ə-)liŋ
\
\
Definition of purple (Entry 3 of 3)
: to make purple
: to become purple
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Synonyms for purple
Synonyms: Adjective
aureate, florid, flowery, grandiloquent, high-flown, high-sounding, highfalutin (also hifalutin), magnific, ornate, rhetorical (also rhetoric)
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Examples of purple in a Sentence
Adjective
The book contains a few purple passages. Her writing was full of purple prose.Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
Not after my boy was just ripped from my body and shown to me for the very first time, wrinkled and purple and all mine, before immediately being taken away from me. — Nikki Kolb, Glamour, "A Traumatic Birth Forever Changed My First Moments of Motherhood," 4 Sep. 2019 Death before hatch But the most important color in the region isn’t blue or red or purple. — Anna Staver, The Denver Post, "Built by steel, baked by the sun: Pueblo is steeped in tradition, but a new leader hopes to grow this southern Colorado city," 1 Sep. 2019 The purple and white jerseys feature the Solar Bears' primary logo on the chest. — Iliana Limón Romero, orlandosentinel.com, "Solar Bears unveil new uniforms that include alternate orange sweater," 26 Aug. 2019 The series includes dwarf plants (up to three feet) and intermediates (three to five feet high), and colors such as red, purple, shades of pink and white. — Adrian Higgins, Houston Chronicle, "Growers set their sights on developing re-bloomers for the garden," 21 Aug. 2019 There's an artistic rendering featuring the Apple logo in green, blue, yellow, red and purple. — Dalvin Brown, USA TODAY, "Apple confirms the date of its next big iPhone event: September 10th," 16 Aug. 2019 Necklaces of color surround the sun and the air is a beautiful symphony of blue, red, purple, and indigo dots of color. — Denise Coffey, courant.com, "“New Perspectives” On Display At Spirol Gallery," 29 July 2019 Luckily, no one broke into a sweat because everyone passed with flying colors as red and purple lights flew across the stage. — Heran Mamo, Billboard, "Jon Bellion Electrifies the Masses at Los Angeles Stop on Glory Sound Prep Tour," 13 July 2019 For party favors, the couple gave their guests custom purple baby blankets, a nod to the epic portrait shawl Cardi once wore to the airport. — Elise Taylor, Vogue, "See Exclusive Photos From Cardi B’s Bronx Fairy-Tale Baby Shower," 28 June 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Up Critics of Oregon’s program — for instance: those dressed in purple — are quick to note that despite the attention given to the Ducks, Cristobal and Herbert haven’t won anything consequential. — Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, "Oregon preview: Expectations high for Herbert and Cristobal, as is the pressure," 19 Aug. 2019 The locations in dark purple are confirmed concentration camps where significant human rights abuses have been documented. — Casey Newton, The Verge, "The ugly side of Facebook’s pivot to privacy is starting to show," 9 July 2019 What if 20 percent of your planting erupted in purple, pink, white, or orange? — Jessie Kissinger, Popular Mechanics, "Give Your Yard Back to Nature," 1 July 2019 Then again, that wasn’t our takeaway from the 2018 midterms, when the winners in the purple/red districts and states tended to be those from the pragmatic wing of the party. — NBC News, "What to watch for at tonight's second debate," 27 June 2019 The area outlined and shaded in purple is the area that is being used for the celebration, (the finish line of the parade, which is marked with a green and yellow dot, is located at the corner of Milam Street and Pease Street). — Peter Dawson, Houston Chronicle, "Weekend road closures: Houston Pride Festival shutting down a dozen city streets," 21 June 2019 Nothing, argues physicist Polisseni of the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt, Germany, who took this image of a glial cell (purple, left) wrapping around a neuron (yellow, right). — Jennifer Leman, Scientific American, "The Brain in Images: Top Entries in the Art of Neuroscience," 29 July 2019 The most spectacular versions are deep purple and red on the inside, and their hue deepens with altitude, to protect them from the intense ultraviolet light at high elevations. — Jill K. Robinson, National Geographic, "Gordon Ramsay Adventures in Peru’s Sacred Valley," 2 July 2019 From deep reds and bright purples to subtle nudes, there is a color and, certainly a woman to be inspired by, for everyone. — Asia Milia Ware, Teen Vogue, "This New Beauty Brand Named Its Lipsticks After Iconic Black Women," 26 Apr. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Bloom’s favorite subject: The human body freshly released from the grip of death, often flayed and purpling, flesh turned inside out. — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, "This Boston artist shunned the limelight. He deserves to be famous.," 1 Aug. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'purple.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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