purple

II. purple² BrE AmE adjective
1. having a dark colour that is a mixture of red and blue
2. purple with rage/purple in the face etc with a face that is dark red, caused by anger:
His face turned purple with rage.
3. purple patch a time when you are very successful – used especially in news reports:
Steve’s purple patch continued with a second victory on Tuesday.
4. purple prose/passage writing that uses difficult or unusual words – used in order to show disapproval

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

purple

▪ I. pur·ple [purple purples purpled purpling] [ˈpɜːpl] [ˈpɜːrpl] adjective
1. having the colour of blue and red mixed together
• a purple flower

• His face was purple with rage.

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition

purple / ˈpɜː.pl̩ / / ˈpɝː- / adjective (COLOUR)

A2 of a dark reddish-blue colour:

purple plums

a dark purple bruise

purple in the face/purple with rage

dark red in the face because of anger

purpleness / -nəs / noun [ U ]

purple / ˈpɜː.pl̩ / / ˈpɝː- / adjective UK (STYLE)

describes a piece of writing that is complicated or sounds false because the writer has tried too hard to make the style interesting:

Despite occasional patches of purple prose , the book is mostly clear and incisive.

purpleness / -nəs / noun [ U ]

Collins Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

purple

/pɜ:(r)p(ə)l/
(purples)

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.

1.
Something that is purple is of a reddish-blue colour.
She wore purple and green silk.
...sinister dark greens and purples.
COLOUR

2.
Purple prose or a purple patch is a piece of writing that contains very elaborate language or images.
...passages of purple prose describing intense experiences.
ADJ: usu ADJ n

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary

purple

²purple adj pur·pler; pur·plest
1 : of the color purple
• purple grapes/tulips
2 disapproving : using many fancy words
• The book contains a few purple passages.
• Her writing was full of purple prose.