What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

What is the difference between clean and pure?

clean | pure |

As adjectives the difference between clean and pure

is that clean is not dirty while pure is free of flaws or imperfections; unsullied.

As adverbs the difference between clean and pure

is that clean is fully and completely while pure is (liverpool) to a great extent or degree; extremely; exceedingly.

As a noun clean

is removal of dirt.

As a verb clean

is to remove dirt from a place or object.

clean

English

(wikipedia clean)

Adjective

(er)
  • Free of dirt or impurities or protruberances.
  • #Not dirty.
  • #:
  • #*
  • #*:Then his sallow face brightened, for the hall had been carefully furnished, and was very clean . ¶ There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.
  • #In an unmarked condition.
  • #:
  • #(lb) Allowing an uninterrupted flow over surfaces, without protrusions such as racks or landing gear.
  • #Empty.
  • #:
  • #(lb) Having relatively few impurities.
  • #:
  • Free of immorality or criminality.
  • #Pure, especially morally or religiously.
  • #:
  • #*(Bible), (Psalms) li.10:
  • #*:Create in me a clean heart, O God.
  • #* (1809-1892)
  • #*:That I am whole, and clean , and meet for Heaven.
  • #Not having used drugs or alcohol.
  • #:
  • # Without restrictions or penalties, or someone having such a record.
  • #:
  • #(lb) Not in possession of weapons or contraband such as drugs.
  • #:
  • Smooth, exact, and performed well.
  • :
  • (lb) Cool or neat.
  • :
  • (lb) Being free of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
  • :
  • Which doesn’t .
  • :
  • Free from that which is useless or injurious; without defects.
  • :
  • Free from restraint or neglect; complete; entire.
  • *(Bible), (w) xxiii.22:
  • *:When ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of corners of thy field.
  • Well-proportioned; shapely.
  • :
  • Ascended without falling.
  • Synonyms

    * (not dirty) * (empty)

    Antonyms

    * dirty * unclean

    Derived terms

    * clean as a hound's tooth * * clean sheet * clean sweep * cleanliness * cleanly * come clean * lick clean * unclean

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Removal of dirt.
  • This place needs a clean .
  • (weightlifting) The first part of the event clean and jerk in which the weight is brought from the ground to the shoulders.
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To remove dirt from a place or object.
  • Can you clean the windows today?
  • To tidy up, make a place neat.
  • Clean your room right now!
  • (climbing) To remove equipment from a climbing route after it was previously lead climbed.
  • To make things clean in general.
  • She just likes to clean . That’s why I married her.
  • (curling) To brush the ice lightly in front of a moving rock to remove any debris and ensure a correct line; less vigorous than a sweep.
  • Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * clean someone’s clock * clean out * clean up * cleaner * houseclean

    Adverb

    (er)
  • Fully and completely.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
  • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=1 citation , passage=The huge square box, parquet-floored and high-ceilinged, had been arranged to display a suite of bedroom furniture designed and made in the halcyon days of the last quarter of the nineteenth century, when modish taste was just due to go clean out of fashion for the best part of the next hundred years.}}

    pure

    English

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Free of flaws or imperfections; unsullied.
  • * (1800-1859)
  • Such was the origin of a friendship as warm and pure as any that ancient or modern history records.
  • (senseid)Free of foreign material or pollutants.
  • * (Isaac Watts) (1674-1748)
  • A guinea is pure gold if it has in it no alloy.
  • Free of immoral behavior or qualities; clean.
  • * Bible, v. 22
  • Keep thyself pure .
  • (label) Done for its own sake instead of serving another branch of science.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2014-06-21, volume=411, issue=8892, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Magician’s brain , passage=The [Isaac] Newton that emerges from the [unpublished] manuscripts is far from the popular image of a rational practitioner of cold and pure reason. The architect of modern science was himself not very modern. He was obsessed with alchemy.}}
  • (label) Of a single, simple sound or tone; said of some vowels and the unaspirated consonants.
  • (label) Without harmonics or overtones; not harsh or discordant.
  • Synonyms

    * perfect * innocent * See also

    Antonyms

    * impure, contaminated * (done for its own sake) applied

    Derived terms

    * pure finder * as pure as the driven snow

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (Liverpool) to a great extent or degree; extremely; exceedingly.
  • You’re pure busy.

    Anagrams

    * ----