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Definitions

on purpose

ADVERB
done of one's own free will
Synonyms
WEAK
after consideration by design calculatingly consciously deliberately designed freely in cold blood intentionally knowingly of one's own free will premeditatedly premeditatively purposefully purposely purposively voluntarily willfully with eyes wide open with full intent wittingly

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Others theorized that Epstein was spelling incorrectly on purpose.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026

If a professional boxer loses a fight on purpose, it’s called a “dive” or “tanking” and it is illegal.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 21, 2026

If you’re trying to get excited about vegetables, give yourself permission to make them delicious on purpose.

From Salon • Feb. 18, 2026

NBA teams are increasingly losing games on purpose to improve their draft prospects and basketball must consider every possible remedy to stamp out deliberate "tanking," the league's chief said Saturday.

From Barron's • Feb. 14, 2026

How it hadn’t been an accident at all, but something she’d done on purpose just to impress people who probably weren’t worth impressing anyway, but she couldn’t.

From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi

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