Perhaps we’re using the term differently. Given your experience as a FA officer, I defer to you regarding the official terminology. However, the way I and the people in my circle use the phrase, we say “pure merit” to mean scholarships that have no need-based consideration of any kind. So if need is considered as you mentioned above, then I would not call it a pure merit award, but rather a merit+need award.
Regardless of the terminology, those are the scholarships I was referring to when I said you don’t need to submit the FAFSA or CSS (with the exception of a handful of schools). I’ve confirmed this directly with several schools via email back when my daughter applied.