This article is by Brendan McNulty.
Wikipedia defines purple prose as “written prose that is so extravagant, ornate, or flowery as to break the flow and draw excessive attention to itself.”
It’s one of those writing styles we’re always told to guard against. The best way to look at it is to see what is a necessary way of expressing something vs. overly flouncy and descriptive passages.
Some people think that this means that your writing has to be exclusively lean and clear, but I would disagree.
You don’t need to forsake complex or intricate writing in order to ward off purple prose. Instead, the objective is to write in such a manner that you communicate effectively, without your word choice drawing attention to itself.