purposive Hear it!

purposive Definition

pur·pos·ive (pʉrpəs iv)

adjective

  1. serving some purpose
  2. having a purpose

purposive Related Forms

pur·pos·ively adverb

purposive Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • sampling: Study sites were selected by a process of purposive sampling.
  • interpretation: Purposive interpretation of a contract is a useful tool where the purpose can be identified with reasonable certainty.
  • sample: A purposive sample of 20 older adults discharged from hospital.
  • construction: The Court of Appeal, on the basis of a purposive construction, held that it did.
  • approach: The legal system now more commonly uses a ' purposive approach ' , meaning the intended purpose of the law is taken into account.
  • action: Their attempts at purposive action are instead embedded in concrete, on-going systems of social relations.

Modifying Another Word

  • rationally: He then asks what is required to be a rationally purposive agent in the first place?
  • generally: A computing device may be either generally purposive, universal, or specialized.

Browse dictionary entries near purposive

  1. purposely
  2. purposeless
  3. purposeful
  4. purpose-built
  5. purpose
  6. purport
  7. purplish
  8. purple martin
  9. Purple Heart
  10. purple grackle
  1. purpura
  2. purpure
  3. purpurin
  4. purr
  5. purse
  6. purse crab
  7. purse-proud
  8. purse seine
  9. purse strings
  10. purser