On purpose means not by accident at all. You knew what you were doing and you did it anyway.
It is the plain everyday phrase where deliberately and intentionally are the formal ones, and it is what children say to each other constantly, since he did it on purpose is the standard accusation of the playground. It always follows the verb. Its exact opposite is by accident, and the pair are among the first things anybody learns to distinguish, because responsibility depends entirely on which one applies.
1phraseon purposeDeliberately, rather than by accident.
“I honestly do not think he did it on purpose.”
Also accepted in games: deliberately, intentionally
Practised in Everyday Adjectives, A Man Called Ove
First appears in chapter 22 of A Man Called Ove.
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