Impure

//ɪmˈpjʊə(ɹ)// adj, verb

adj, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    to defile; to pollute obsolete, transitive
Adjective
  1. 1
    Not pure; Containing undesired intermixtures

    "The impure gemstone was not good enough to be made into a necklace, so it was thrown out."

  2. 2
    Not pure; Unhallowed; defiled by something unholy, either physically by an objectionable substance, or morally by guilt or sin
  3. 3
    Not pure; Unchaste; obscene (not according to or not abiding by some system of sexual morality)

    "He was thinking impure thoughts involving a girl from school."

  4. 4
    Not pure; Having side effects.

    "an impure method"

Adjective
  1. 1
    having a physical or moral blemish so as to make impure according to dietary or ceremonial laws wordnet
  2. 2
    (used of persons or behaviors) immoral or obscene wordnet
  3. 3
    combined with extraneous elements wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
adulteratedalloyeddefiledimperfectpollutedunclean

Example

More examples

"Impure drinking water can be a carrier of diseases."

Etymology

From Middle French impur, from Latin impūrus.

Related phrases

impure nameimpure spure-impure

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.