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purple
[ pur-puhl ]
noun
- any color having components of both red and blue, such as lavender, especially one deep in tone.
- cloth or clothing of this hue, especially as formerly worn distinctively by persons of imperial, royal, or other high rank.
- the rank or office of a cardinal.
- the office of a bishop.
- imperial, regal, or princely rank or position.
- deep red; crimson.
- any of several nymphalid butterflies, as Basilarchia astyanax red-spotted purple, having blackish wings spotted with red, or Basilarchia arthemis banded purple, or white admiral, having brown wings banded with white.
adjective
- of the color purple.
- imperial, regal, or princely.
- brilliant or showy.
- full of exaggerated literary devices and effects; marked by excessively ornate rhetoric:
a purple passage in a novel.
- profane or shocking, as language.
- relating to or noting political or ideological diversity:
purple politics; ideologically purple areas of the country.
verb (used with or without object)
- to make or become purple.
purple
/ ˈɜːə /
noun
- any of various colours with a hue lying between red and blue and often highly saturated; a nonspectral colour
- a dye or pigment producing such a colour
- cloth of this colour, often used to symbolize royalty or nobility
- the purplehigh rank; nobility
- the official robe of a cardinal
- the rank, office, or authority of a cardinal as signified by this
- the purplebishops collectively
adjective
- of the colour purple
- (of writing) excessively elaborate or full of imagery
purple prose
- noble or royal
Derived Forms
- ˈܰԱ, noun
- ˈܰ, adjective
- ˈܰ, adjective
Other 51Թ Forms
- ܰp·Ա noun
51Թ History and Origins
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of purple1
Idioms and Phrases
- born in / to the purple, of royal or exalted birth:
Those born to the purple are destined to live in the public eye.
Example Sentences
“Does anyone remember what they tried to give us in the fall? Zeroes,” said union head David Green as workers dinged purple cowbells at the downtown rally.
Next to them, written in old English style, “Mambas Forever” is painted in purple and gold.
House members in swing districts and senators in purple states are probably starting to feel a little bit antsy.
The black hairstreak is endangered, the brown hairstreak and white-letter hairstreak are both vulnerable, and green hairstreak and purple hairstreak have also declined in abundance and distribution since the 1970s.
"Look out for our distinctive green and purple Hope Haven birds, based on the wonderful guillemots at St Bees Head."
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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