What does purple mean?

purple means "a purple color or pigment". That is the primary sense; the word has 8 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in purple?

purple has 2 syllables: pur-ple. The stress falls on "pur". In IPA it is /ˈpɝpəl/.

What is another word for purple?

Close synonyms include purpleness, the purple, the purple, violet, purplish. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is purple a common word?

purple is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

purple — meaning, pronunciation and 8 definitions

noun

3 sensesA person, place, thing, quality or idea.

1.
a purple color or pigment
Synonymspurpleness
Broaderchromatic color
Narrowerlavender mauve reddish purple violet
2.
(in ancient Rome) position of imperial status
“he was born to the purple”
Synonymsthe purple
Broadernobility
3.
(Roman Catholic Church) official dress of a cardinal; so named after the Tyrial purple color of the robes
Synonymsthe purple
Broaderecclesiastical attire
Roman Catholic

adjective

3 sensesA word that describes or qualifies a noun.

1.
of a color intermediate between red and blue
Synonymsviolet purplish
Similarchromatic
2.
excessively elaborate or showily expressed
“a writer of empurpled literature”
“many purple passages”
“an over-embellished story of the fish that got away”
Synonymsempurpled over-embellished
Similarrhetorical
3.
belonging to or befitting a supreme ruler
“golden age of imperial splendor”
“purple tyrant”
“regal attire”
“treated with royal acclaim”
“the royal carriage of a stag's head”
Synonymsimperial majestic regal royal
Similarnoble

verb

2 sensesAn action, occurrence or state of being.

1.
become purple
Broaderdiscolor
2.
color purple
Synonymsempurple purpurate
Broadercolor

Other forms of purple

plural: purples·
past tense: purpled·
present participle: purpling·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about purple

What does purple mean?: purple means "a purple color or pigment". That is the primary sense; the word has 8 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in purple?: purple has 2 syllables: pur-ple. The stress falls on "pur". In IPA it is /ˈpɝpəl/.
What is another word for purple?: Close synonyms include purpleness, the purple, the purple, violet, purplish. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.
Is purple a common word?: purple is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for purple come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.

noun

3 sensesA person, place, thing, quality or idea.

1.
a purple color or pigment
Synonymspurpleness
Broaderchromatic color
Narrowerlavender mauve reddish purple violet
2.
(in ancient Rome) position of imperial status
“he was born to the purple”
Synonymsthe purple
Broadernobility
3.
(Roman Catholic Church) official dress of a cardinal; so named after the Tyrial purple color of the robes
Synonymsthe purple
Broaderecclesiastical attire
Roman Catholic

adjective

3 sensesA word that describes or qualifies a noun.

1.
of a color intermediate between red and blue
Synonymsviolet purplish
Similarchromatic
2.
excessively elaborate or showily expressed
“a writer of empurpled literature”
“many purple passages”
“an over-embellished story of the fish that got away”
Synonymsempurpled over-embellished
Similarrhetorical
3.
belonging to or befitting a supreme ruler
“golden age of imperial splendor”
“purple tyrant”
“regal attire”
“treated with royal acclaim”
“the royal carriage of a stag's head”
Synonymsimperial majestic regal royal
Similarnoble

verb

2 sensesAn action, occurrence or state of being.

1.
become purple
Broaderdiscolor
2.
color purple
Synonymsempurple purpurate
Broadercolor

Other forms of purple

plural: purples·
past tense: purpled·
present participle: purpling·

Questions about purple

What does purple mean?: purple means "a purple color or pigment". That is the primary sense; the word has 8 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in purple?: purple has 2 syllables: pur-ple. The stress falls on "pur". In IPA it is /ˈpɝpəl/.
What is another word for purple?: Close synonyms include purpleness, the purple, the purple, violet, purplish. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.
Is purple a common word?: purple is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

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purple

noun

adjective

verb

Other forms of purple

Questions about purple

Tools

Jump to

Images & video

PDF & writing

Calculate & convert

Health & fitness

AI, code & work

Learn & play

Tool directories

Search

Jump to

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Help

Theme

purple

noun

adjective

verb

Other forms of purple

Questions about purple