“Pureness of the ocean”

Question

“Pure” should modify words indicating color.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/pure

Then, I wonder, for example, to express pureness of blue of the ocean, “pureness of the ocean” doesn’t work, and only “pureness of blue” works.

What makes you think that pure should modify words indicating colour? That is pure nonsense! Anyhow, no colours are pure anything, although people might well describe them as such. — Ronald Sole, Aug 17 '21 at 13:06
@Ronald Sole I mean “if ‘pure’ should be confined to them,” it’s kind of proposition. — , Aug 17 '21 at 13:09
It's a very bad hypothesis. I suspect that it will not be treated kindly. Pure is used mainly to mean not contaminated by or mixed with any other element. But metaphorically it can be used in a huge variety of contexts - pure breed, pure pleasure, pure water. — Ronald Sole, Aug 17 '21 at 13:10
@Ronald Sole What I wonder about is this, can “pureness of the ocean” refer to pureness of blue colour of the ocean? — , Aug 17 '21 at 13:16
Yes, if that's what the writer/speaker intends. Whether the reader/listener will understand it as such is another matter. — Ronald Sole, Aug 17 '21 at 13:17
Sorry, but your assumption that pure can only modify color is incorrect. In the future, doing more research will help you avoid being spanked like this. — FeliniusRex - gone, Aug 17 '21 at 14:24

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 17 '21 at 14:50

Pure can modify words indicting that it is not mixed with something else

"Pure cotton" "pure water"

Particularly, not mixed with something harmful

"Pure air"

And it can be metaphorical

"pure horror", "pure hell"

When it is applied to a colour word, it means an unmixed and intense form of that colour

"pure white" (#FFFFFF the colour of snow) "pure black" (#000000 the colour of soot) "pure blue" (probably the colour of ultramarine paint, although this one is more ambiguous, in HTML terms it is #0000FF)

"The ocean" is not a colour word, so "pureness (or purity?) of the ocean" would refer probably to sense 1 or 2 (not mixed with anything harmful) or perhaps sense 3 (a metaphor for the effect of the ocean on your spirit?)

“Pureness of the ocean”

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