Purposive Meaning
/ˈpəːpəsɪv/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjServing a particular purpose; useful; adapted to a given purpose, especially through natural evolution.
adjDone or performed with a conscious purpose or intent.
Sentence Examples
These studies make use of purposive sampling.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the project, her ____ actions were all directed toward achieving a single clear goal.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ behavior of the animal suggested it was capable of planning ahead to achieve a goal.
Word Origin & History
From purpose + -ive. Compare purpositive.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 1918, Algernon Blackwood, chapter 9, in The Garden of Survival, London: Macmillan, page 142:
"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."
— 1980, George Lakoff, Mark Johnson, chapter 24, in Metaphors We Live By:
"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."
— 1949 June 8, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], “Appendix. The Principles of Newspeak.”, in Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC; republished [Australia]: Project Gutenberg of Australia, August 2001, page 273:
"Other ecclesiastics [...] were similarly accepting of a space for purposive and beneficent human action and betterment in a disenchanted world."
— 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 191:
"Ursula could not believe the air in her nostrils. It seemed conscious, malevolent, purposive in its intense murderous coldness."
— 1920 November 9, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 29, in Women in Love, New York, N.Y.: Privately printed [by Thomas Seltzer] for subscribers only, →OCLC, page 453:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the project, her ____ actions were all directed toward achieving a single clear goal.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ behavior of the animal suggested it was capable of planning ahead to achieve a goal.