as in fanatic
a person who has very strong ideas about what is correct or acceptable and who usually opposes changes to traditional methods and practices
a new style of play that offended the sport's purists a language purist who is always looking to correct the speech of others
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of purist
Mountaineering purists, Cockrell noted, might take issue with the speed at which people summit.
—
Amy Woodyatt, CNN Money, 13 May 2025
Some purists, however, insist there were only 15 Benedicts, purposely omitting Benedict X, who was elected in 1058 but later determined to be an antipope and replaced in less than a year by Nicholas II.
—Christopher Watson, ABC News, 21 Apr. 2025
Photo : Darin Schnabel, courtesy of RM Sotheby's The chrome bumpers of a mid-to-late 1960s MG MGB are preferred by purists, as opposed to the black rubber bumpers found on examples from 1974 on.
—Robert Ross, Robb Report, 23 May 2025
To soccer purists, Ronaldo will always be O Fenômeno.
—Henry Flynn, Forbes.com, 26 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for purist
Amy Woodyatt, CNN Money, 13 May 2025
Some purists, however, insist there were only 15 Benedicts, purposely omitting Benedict X, who was elected in 1058 but later determined to be an antipope and replaced in less than a year by Nicholas II.
—Christopher Watson, ABC News, 21 Apr. 2025
Photo : Darin Schnabel, courtesy of RM Sotheby's The chrome bumpers of a mid-to-late 1960s MG MGB are preferred by purists, as opposed to the black rubber bumpers found on examples from 1974 on.
—Robert Ross, Robb Report, 23 May 2025
To soccer purists, Ronaldo will always be O Fenômeno.
—Henry Flynn, Forbes.com, 26 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for purist
Recent Examples of Synonyms for purist
Noun
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Basic amenities, like operable equipment and clean locker rooms, seem increasingly hard to come by, and crowds at peak times — often just before or after 9-to-5 working hours — can deter even the most motivated of fitness fanatics.—
Josh Ocampo,
New York Times,
30 May 2025
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For the record, Raja refuses to buy the stale debate, sometimes raised by pizza fanatics, that South Florida water can’t flavor the crust like New York water can.—
Phillip Valys,
Sun Sentinel,
17 May 2025
Noun
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist, says his 2019 revocation of Kashmir’s semiautonomous status ended a decades-long separatist insurgency and allowed tourism to flourish, a narrative that was shattered by the attack last month.—
Mushtaq Yusufzai,
NBC news,
6 May 2025
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The next day, the FBI dug up the rear axle of that truck, which eventually led them to Timothy McVeigh, an extreme nationalist angered by the Waco siege two years earlier.—
Laurel Morales,
NPR,
18 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Purist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purist. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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