ON PURPOSE Synonyms: 30 Similar and Opposite Words

on purpose

phrase

Definition of on purpose

as in intentionally

with full awareness of what one is doing I'm sorry, but I didn't knock the vase over on purpose.

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of on purpose Nazi counterintelligence was so brutal that the Germans couldn’t imagine enemy soldiers would want to get captured on purpose. — Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2026 Test The discipline that used to be enforced by cost now has to be enforced on purpose. — Andrew Siemer, Forbes.com, 29 Sep. 2026 By the 2004 campaign, the vocabulary was everywhere, carrying connotations that nobody had assigned it on purpose. — Andrew Latham, The Conversation, 21 Sep. 2026 One gets the sense that maybe this humble presentation is all on purpose; that maybe there’s a pill in the peanut butter—that this argument is being made by a filmmaker who spent a decade reading up on urban theory. — Lila Allen, Architectural Digest, 18 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for on purpose

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“On purpose.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/on%20purpose. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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