pure-D
Out-and-out; the real, no-doubt-about-it kind.
Also called puredee, pure-dee, pure D, pure-T.
Updated September 24, 2026
pure-D pronunciation
/PYOOR-dee/
Meaning
A Southern intensifier that means complete, genuine, or thoroughgoing. Stick it in front of a noun or adjective and you raise the volume: pure-D mean, pure-D crazy, pure-D jealousy. It works like "downright" or "straight-up," but it sounds like porch talk from the South and South Midland.
How folks use it
- “That dog is pure-D mean if you mess with his food bowl.”
- “He's pure-D stubborn when it comes to sellin' that land.”
Origin and etymology
Chiefly Southern and South Midland American English. Dictionaries treat it as a softened stand-in for "pure damn" or "pure damned," which is why churchgoing speakers favored pure-D. Print turns up by the early 1900s (OED cites forms from that era). Spellings wander: puredee, pure-dee, pure D, even pure-T.
Frequently asked questions
What does the D stand for?
Most dialect dictionaries say it stands in for damn, cleaned up so you can say it in polite company. Pure-T showed up later as a cousin form.