Meaning & use

impure

adjective·Academic

Mixed with other substances that make something unclean, contaminated, or less pure.

See it in a sentence

The impure water needed to be filtered before it was safe to drink.

Traces of metal made the gold sample impure.

A note on using this word

Impure applies mainly to substances and materials; it is rarely used to describe abstract ideas in modern English.

Words with a similar meaning

contaminatedadulterated

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

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