Definition

1. Noun:

   • A color intermediate between red and blue: "purple" is a secondary color created by mixing red and blue pigments or light.
   • Imperial or royal status: Historically, "purple" refers to the color of garments worn by Roman emperors and senior magistrates, symbolizing high rank and sovereignty.

2. Adjective:

   • Of a color between red and blue: Describing something that is of a purple hue.
   • Belonging to or befitting a supreme ruler: Characterized by imperial or regal splendor.
   • Excessively elaborate or ornate in style: Used to describe language or writing that is overly flowery or showy.

3. Verb:

   • To make or become purple: The action of turning something the color purple or becoming that color.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • She painted her room a deep purple.
  • In ancient Rome, the right to wear purple was a great honor.

• Adjective:

  • The sky turned a beautiful purple at dusk.
  • The king wore a purple robe.
  • The novel was criticized for its purple prose.

• Verb:

  • The cold weather purpled his fingers.
  • The sunset purpled the clouds.

Advanced Usage

• "Born to the purple": Born into a royal or aristocratic family.

  • As a prince, he was born to the purple.

• "Purple passage/patch": A section of writing that is excessively ornate or elaborate.

  • The otherwise simple memoir contained a few purple passages.

Variants and Related Words

• Purplish (adj): Somewhat purple in color.

  • The bruise had a purplish tint.

• Empurple (verb, literary): To make or become purple.

  • The wine empurpled his lips.

Synonyms

• Violet: A color at the end of the visible light spectrum, often lighter or bluer than purple.
• Mauve: A pale purple color.
• Regal: Relating to a monarch; royal (for the adjective meaning 'imperial').
• Ornate: Elaborately decorated (for the adjective meaning 'excessively elaborate').

Related Phrases

• Purple with rage: Extremely angry, to the point where one's face may darken.

  • He was purple with rage after hearing the news.

• Purple heart: A U.S. military decoration awarded to those wounded or killed in service.

  • The soldier received a Purple Heart for his bravery.

Idioms

• Purple prose: Writing that is so extravagant, ornate, or flowery as to break the flow and draw excessive attention to itself.

  • The author's fondness for purple prose made the novel difficult to read.

• Purple haze: A state of confusion or daze; also famously a song title.

  • The medication left him in a purple haze for hours.

Verb

1. color purple
2. become purple

Noun

1. of imperial status
   • he was born to the purple
2. a purple color or pigment

Adjective

1. belonging to or befitting a supreme ruler
   • golden age of imperial splendor
   • purple tyrant
   • regal attire
   • treated with royal acclaim
   • the royal carriage of a stag's head
2. excessively elaborate or showily expressed
   • a writer of empurpled literature
   • many purple passages
   • an over-embellished story of the fish that got away
3. of a color intermediate between red and blue