purposes 1 of 2

noun

plural of purpose
1
as in goals
something that one hopes or intends to accomplish the purpose of the research is to discover how the virus is transmitted

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in roles
the action for which a person or thing is specially fitted or used or for which a thing exists still trying to discover her purpose in life

Synonyms & Similar Words

purposes

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of purpose
as in plans
to have in mind as a purpose or goal I've been purposing to fix that thing for some time now

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

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 purposes
Noun
No student information is to be disclosed for immigration enforcement purposes without a court order or subpoena, according to state law. — Tarini Mehta, Sacbee.com, 7 Oct. 2026 Other independents in the Senate, including Maine's Angus King on the moderate end and Vermont's Bernie Sanders on the left, caucus with Democrats for organizational purposes and committee assignments. — Nicholas Ingram, Arkansas Online, 6 Oct. 2026 George Cheeks will become, for all intents and purposes, the most powerful executive in linear TV. — Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 6 Oct. 2026 Each petal serves both structural and aesthetic purposes, enclosing a vast central hall that can accommodate up to 2,500 worshippers. — Kieron Marchese, Architectural Digest, 6 Oct. 2026 Subscription rights, usage charges, licensing and referral arrangements serve different purposes. — Rishi Katdare, Forbes.com, 28 Sep. 2026 That means being able to continue to control their original maritime border and maintain exclusive rights for fishing, energy, or military purposes. — Dina Kraft, Christian Science Monitor, 28 Sep. 2026 Assessments Assessment reports like those produced by the US and the IPCC serve several purposes. — Scott K. Johnson, ArsTechnica, 22 Sep. 2026 The domestication of transposons for new purposes has also been implicated in the evolution of the placenta — a defining feature of nearly all mammals. — Jake Buehler, Quanta Magazine, 21 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for purposes
  1. goals
  2. roles
  3. plans
  4. objectives
  5. tasks
  6. intends
  7. aims
  8. functions
Noun
  • Mercury in your 10th House quincunxes Saturn in your 3rd, creating friction between your public goals and the details, conversations, or information required to support them.
    — Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Income, bills, savings goals and other expenses change over time.
    — Ashley Lynch, Charlotte Observer, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of goals
Noun
  • Marjoe Gortner, who achieved fame as a child evangelist before pivoting to an acting career that included roles in the 1974 film Earthquake and the 1980s primetime soap Falcon Crest, died October 2 from heart complications in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
    — Greg Evans, Deadline, 6 Oct. 2026
  • The result is a rogues’ gallery of Murphy regulars reprising multiple roles, including Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Emma Roberts, and Jessica Lange.
    — Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of roles
Verb
  • The urgency of their push comes as major European companies undergo huge job losses — Volkswagen plans to cut 100,000 workers — which experts have said could drive political upheaval.
    — Morgan Chalfant, semafor.com, 7 Oct. 2026
  • The president plans to attend Saturday's big college football matchup between Alabama and Georgia, after attending Texas at Tennessee late last month.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of plans
Noun
  • Before meeting with a patient advocate, identify your main objectives – for example, preparing for a transition home, clarifying a treatment plan or understanding medication changes.
    — Jennifer Schlinger, The Conversation, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Its little narrative nips and tucks, its simple additions to the existing record, its notes of humanity draw us into these people’s worlds, their objectives, and their frustrations.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of objectives
Noun
  • Mercury in your 6th House squares Mars in your 3rd, making errands, tasks, messages, and everyday conversations feel unusually urgent.
    — Tarot.com, Hartford Courant, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Among the arguments was that one of the panel members was in her car and driving during live testimony and distracted by other unrelated tasks throughout the testimony.
    — Shayna Jacobs, NBC news, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of tasks
Verb
  • Parker also said Boeing intends to maintain its focus on quality as production increases.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Ellison intends to focus on the company’s long-term strategy, creative vision and direction, including talent relationships, strategic partnerships, technology and capital allocation.
    — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of intends
Noun
  • Naomi’s work clashes with both men’s professional aims, of course, but the real power of the story lies in its last third, which is set two and a half decades into the future and provides an unusual vision of climate change.
    — Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026
  • My aims are to improve our quality of life on everything from affordability to traffic to public safety; to restore fiscal sanity to our public finances; and to end the brazen self-dealing that has become business as usual in local government.
    — Miami Herald staff, Miami Herald, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of aims
Noun
  • There’s a fair amount of urination in the book, among other bodily functions.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Anonymous quantitative surveys can identify patterns across teams, functions and organizational levels, while confidential qualitative interviews or focus groups can reveal the experiences and organizational conditions behind those patterns.
    — Gwen Mdinaradze, Forbes.com, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of functions

Browse Nearby Words

purposely
purposes
purposing
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Cite this Entry

“Purposes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purposes. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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