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sense of purpose

sense of purpose

22 3.5
A feeling of having a clear aim in life or work that gives you motivation
  • noun
  • /sɛns əv ˈpɜr.pəs/
translation icon : sentido de propósito
  • Many people find that volunteering gives them a deep sense of purpose in life.
  • a clear sense of purpose
  • a strong sense of purpose
  • a renewed sense of purpose

that she's not living with a sense of purpose every single day

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Examples

  • These people come to their work with a clear sense of purpose or values.

  • And it's really brought a new sense of purpose to what I'm doing with this business.

  • And for men in particular, the sense of purpose is very important.

  • People are going to find ways to get together and to have a common sense of purpose and mission.

  • I think, based on my background in medicine, it gave me a greater sense of purpose.

  • Without it, I would have no focus or sense of purpose in life.

    Academic text (2008)
  • For the first time in his life, he woke up each morning with a sense of purpose.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • Active people with a sense of purpose and mission are not stressed.

    Academic text (1998)
  • It gives my dad a great sense of purpose.

  • It gave me a sense of purpose.

Synonyms

purpose
vssense of purpose
1.6

The reason something is done or made

is the personal feeling of having a clear life aim or direction
direction
vssense of purpose
154 1.6

A person's aim or plan for their life

is about an inner feeling of having a clear life aim not its amount
meaningfulness
vssense of purpose
1 4.9

Something that has a clear purpose or value

is specifically the inner feeling of having a clear life aim
purposefulness
vssense of purpose
1 4.9

A clear aim and strong determination to reach it

is more about an inner feeling of having a clear life aim
directedness
vssense of purpose
1 6.8

The quality of having a clear goal and working toward it

is more about a personal feeling of having a life aim

Antonyms

389 1.8

A time when things are not organized and people do not know what to think or do

1 7.0

A lack of clear purpose or direction

How Purposeful

determination
142 3.0
calling
333 3.9
sense of purpose
22 3.5
aimlessness
1 7.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

sense + of + purpose

The phrase is directly compositional: 'sense' denotes a feeling or awareness and 'purpose' denotes an aim, so 'sense of purpose' straightforwardly means a feeling of having an aim. This is a common, cross-linguistic noun + of + noun pattern in English that a B1 learner who knows the constituents should be able to understand.

Etymology

Sense of purpose creates the image of an inner compass: sense means a feeling and purpose means a clear goal. So, it means 'feeling that you have a clear aim or direction in life'.