on purpose

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word on purpose. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word on purpose, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say on purpose in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word on purpose you have here. The definition of the word on purpose will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofon purpose, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

The Tea room(+) is discussing this entry at the moment.
Please come along and share your opinions on this and the other topics being discussed there.

Pronunciation

  • Audio (AU)(file)

Prepositional phrase

on purpose

  1. (idiomatic) By design, as opposed to by accident; intentionally; deliberately.
    Synonyms: deliberately, intentionally, purposefully, willfully
    Antonyms: by accident, on accident
    That wasn't an accident! You did it on purpose!
  2. (now rare) In order to (do something); with the objective that.
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:
      Blifil bowed and stammered, and looked like a fool; but Western, without giving him time to form a speech for the purpose, answered, “Well, well, I am to blame, if you will, I always am, certainly; but come, let the girl be fetched back again, or let Mr Blifil go to her.——He’s come up on purpose, and there is no time to be lost.”
    • 1792, Charlotte Smith, Desmond, Broadview, published 2001, page 260:
      I send this to the town, on purpose to have it reach you by the earliest post […] .

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia