pure vs sterile

pure

adj
  • Free of flaws or imperfections; unsullied. 

  • Of a single, simple sound or tone; said of some vowels and the unaspirated consonants. 

  • Free of foreign material or pollutants. 

  • Done for its own sake instead of serving another branch of science. 

  • Mere; that and that only. 

  • Without harmonics or overtones; not harsh or discordant. 

  • A lot of. 

  • Free of immoral behavior or qualities; clean. 

noun
  • One who, or that which, is pure. 

verb
  • to hit (the ball) completely cleanly and accurately 

adv
  • to a great extent or degree; extremely; exceedingly. 

sterile

adj
  • Fruitless, uninspiring, or unproductive. 

  • Terse; lacking sentiment or emotional stimulation, as in a manner of speaking. 

  • Unable to reproduce (or procreate). 

  • Of weapons: foreign-made and untraceable to the United States. 

  • Germless; free from all living or viable microorganisms. 

  • Free from dangerous objects, as a zone in an airport that can be only be entered via a security checkpoint. 

How often have the words pure and sterile occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )