English

Adverb

purely ‎(comparative more purely, superlative most purely)

1. (now US regional) Wholly; really, completely. [from 14th c.]
   • 1962, Warren Miller, Flush Times:

     I am fascinated by the entire scene, I purely am.

2. Solely; exclusively; merely, simply. [from 14th c.]
   • 2005, Owen Bowcott, The Guardian, 8 Apr 2005:

     The IRA should "lead by example" and "unilaterally" abandon paramilitary violence and adopt a purely political strategy, a leading Sinn Féin MP urged yesterday.

   • 2007, ‘Helen Brooks’, His Christmas Bride:

     "But this meal tonight is not a date, not in the traditional sense. It's purely platonic, I assure you."

3. Chastely, innocently; in a sinless manner, without fault. [from 15th c.]
   • 1623, William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, First Folio, IV.7:

     faith and troth, / Strain'd purely from all hollow bias drawing: / Bids thee with most diuine integritie, / From heart of very heart, great Hector welcome.

4. (now rare) Without physical adulterants; refinedly, with no admixture. [from 16th c.]
   • 1823, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Table Talk:

     By some means or other the water flows purely, and separated from the filth, in a deeper and narrower course on one side of the rock, and the refuse of the dirt and troubled water goes off on the other in a broader current [...].