Adjacent Words

Very definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

VER'Y, a. [L. verus.] True; real.
Whether thou be my very son Esau or not. Genesis 27.
He that repeateth a matter, separateth very friends.
Proverbs 17.
VER'Y, adv. As an adverb, or modifier of adjectives and adverbs, very denotes in a great degree, an eminent or high degree, but not generally the highest; as a very great mountain; a very bright sun; a very cold day; a very pernicious war; a very benevolent disposition; the river flows very rapidly.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: precisely as stated; "the very center of town"
2: being the exact same one; not any other:; "this is the identical room we stayed in before"; "the themes of his stories are one and the same"; "saw the selfsame quotation in two newspapers"; "on this very spot"; "the very thing he said yesterday"; "the very man I want to see" [syn: identical, selfsame, very] adv
1: used as intensifiers; `real' is sometimes used informally for `really'; `rattling' is informal; "she was very gifted"; "he played very well"; "a really enjoyable evening"; "I'm real sorry about it"; "a rattling good yarn" [syn: very, really, real, rattling]
2: precisely so; "on the very next page"; "he expected the very opposite"

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective (verier; -est) Etymology: Middle English verray, verry, from Anglo-French verai, from Vulgar Latin *veracus, alteration of Latin verac-, verax truthful, from verus true; akin to Old English w?r true, Old High German w?ra trust, care, Greek ?ra (accusative) favor Date: 13th century 1. a. properly entitled to the name or designation ; true <the fierce hatred of a very woman — J. M. Barrie> b. actual, real <the very blood and bone of our grammar — H. L. Smith †1972> c. simple, plain <in very truth> 2. a. exact, precise <the very heart of the city> b. exactly suitable or necessary <the very thing for the purpose> 3. a. absolute, utter <the veriest fool alive> b. unqualified, sheer <the very shame of it> 4. — used as an intensive especially to emphasize identity <before my very eyes> 5. mere, bare <the very thought terrified him> 6. being the same one ; selfsame <the very man I saw> 7. special, particular <the very essence of truth is plainness and brightness — John Milton> Synonyms: see same II. adverb Date: 14th century 1. in actual fact ; truly <the very best store in town> <told the very same story> 2. to a high degree ; exceedingly <very hot> <didn't hurt very much>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adv. & adj. --adv. 1 in a high degree (did it very easily; had a very bad cough; am very much better). 2 in the fullest sense (foll. by own or superl. adj.: at the very latest; do your very best; my very own room). --adj. 1 real, true, actual; truly such (usu. prec. by the, this, his, etc. emphasizing identity, significance, or extreme degree: the very thing we need; those were his very words). 2 archaic real, genuine (very God). Phrases and idioms: not very 1 in a low degree. 2 far from being. very good (or well) a formula of consent or approval. very high frequency (of radio frequency) in the range 30-300 megahertz. Very Reverend the title of a dean. the very same see SAME. Etymology: ME f. OF verai ult. f. L verus true

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Very Ver"y, a. [Compar. Verier; superl. Veriest.] [OE. verai, verray, OF. verai, vrai, F. vrai, (assumed) LL. veracus, for L. verax true, veracious, fr. verus true; akin to OHG. & OS. w[=a]r, G. wahr, D. waar; perhaps originally, that is or exists, and akin to E. was. Cf. Aver, v. t., Veracious, Verdict, Verity.] True; real; actual; veritable. Whether thou be my very son Esau or not. --Gen. xxvii. 21. He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends. --Prov. xvii. 9. The very essence of truth is plainness and brightness. --Milton. I looked on the consideration of public service or public ornament to be real and very justice. --Burke. Note: Very is sometimes used to make the word with which it is connected emphatic, and may then be paraphrased by same, self-same, itself, and the like. ``The very hand, the very words.'' --Shak. ``The very rats instinctively have quit it.'' --Shak. ``Yea, there where very desolation dwells.'' --Milton. Very is used occasionally in the comparative degree, and more frequently in the superlative. ``Was not my lord the verier wag of the two?'' --Shak. ``The veriest hermit in the nation.'' --Pope. ``He had spoken the very truth, and transformed it into the veriest falsehood.'' --Hawthorne. Very Reverend. See the Note under Reverend.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Very Ver"y, adv. In a high degree; to no small extent; exceedingly; excessively; extremely; as, a very great mountain; a very bright sum; a very cold day; the river flows very rapidly; he was very much hurt.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Very's Ver"y's, or Very Ver"y, night signals night signals . [After Lieut. Samuel W. Very, who invented the system in 1877.] (Naut.) A system of signaling in which balls of red and green fire are fired from a pistol, the arrangement in groups denoting numbers having a code significance.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. Very is used to give emphasis to an adjective or adverb. The problem and the answer are very simple... It is very, very strong evidence indeed... I'm very sorry... They are getting the hang of it very quickly... Thank you very much... The men were very much like my father. ADV: ADV adj/adv [emphasis] 2. Not very is used with an adjective or adverb to say that something is not at all true, or that it is true only to a small degree. She's not very impressed with them... It's obviously not used very much... 'How well do you know her?'—'Not very.' PHRASE: usu PHR adj/adv 3. You use very to give emphasis to a superlative adjective or adverb. For example, if you say that something is the very best, you are emphasizing that it is the best. They will be helped by the very latest in navigation aids... At the very least, the Government must offer some protection to mothers who fear domestic violence. ADV: ADV superl [emphasis] 4. You use very with certain nouns in order to specify an extreme position or extreme point in time. At the very back of the yard, several feet from Lenny, was a wooden shack... I turned to the very end of the book, to read the final words... He was wrong from the very beginning... We still do not have enough women at the very top. ADJ: ADJ n [emphasis] 5. You use very with nouns to emphasize that something is exactly the right one or exactly the same one. Everybody says he is the very man for the case... She died in this very house... ADJ: ADJ n [emphasis] 6. You use very with nouns to emphasize the importance or seriousness of what you are saying. At one stage his very life was in danger... The very basis of Indian politics has been transformed... History is taking place before your very eyes. ADJ: ADJ n [emphasis] 7. The expression very much so is an emphatic way of answering 'yes' to something or saying that it is true or correct. 'Are you enjoying your holiday?'—'Very much so.' PHRASE: PHR as reply, cl PHR [emphasis] 8. Very well is used to say that you agree to do something or you accept someone's answer, even though you might not be completely satisfied with it. 'We need proof, sir.' Another pause. Then, 'Very well.'... Very well, please yourself. = all right CONVENTION [formulae] 9. If you say that you cannot very well do something, you mean that it would not be right or possible to do it. He couldn't very well go to her office and force her to write a check... I said yes. I can't very well say no. PHRASE: V inflects, PHR inf

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ver'-i: As adjective (from verus, "true"), "true," "real," "actual," etc. (Ge 27:21,24, "my very son Esau"; Jos 10:27, "this very day"; Joh 7:26, "the very Christ," etc.); chiefly as adverb, "in a high degree," "extremely." As ab adverb it is commonly in the Old Testament the translation of me'odh, and in the New Testament represents, as adjective and adverb, several Greek words, as alethos, "truly" (Joh 7:26, above), autos (Joh 14:11, "the very works' sake"; Ro 13:6), sphodra (Mt 18:31, "very sorry," the Revised Version (British and American) "exceeding sorry"; Mr 16:4, "very great," the Revised Version (British and American) "exceeding"), huper- (in composition 1Th 5:13), etc. the Revised Version (British and American) frequently omits "very," and also substitutes other words for it, as "exceeding" (2Ch 16:8; Mt 26:7; compare above), "sore" (Zec 9:5), etc.

W. L. Walker

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. True, real, actual. 2. Same, self-same. II. ad. Highly, exceedingly, excessively, extremely, remarkably, surpassingly, to a high degree.

Moby Thesaurus

a bit, a little, absolutely, actually, acutely, almighty, almost, altogether, awful, awfully, bare, barest, big, bleeding, bloody, bona fide, certainly, completely, correct, crazy, damned, danged, darned, de facto, decidedly, deeply, definitely, dreadful, dreadfully, eminently, entirely, especial, exact, exactly, exceedingly, exceptionally, express, extraordinarily, extremely, fairly, genuine, genuinely, greatly, highly, hugely, hundred-percent, ideal, identical, in a measure, in a way, in some measure, in truth, indubitable, jolly, just, kind of, larruping, least, main, mere, mightily, mighty, model, monstrous, mortally, most, much, nearly, notably, only too, parlous, particular, passing, perfect, perfectly, pesky, plumb, powerful, powerfully, practically, precise, precisely, pretty, profoundly, pure, quite, rather, rattling, real, really, remarkably, right, same, scarcely, selfsame, seriously, sheer, significantly, simple, slightly, snapping, so, somewhat, sort of, spanking, special, strikingly, super, sure-enough, surely, surpassingly, tellingly, terribly, terrifically, thoroughly, to a degree, to some extent, too, totally, true, truly, uncommonly, undoubted, unequivocally, unquestionable, unquestionably, unusually, utter, vastly, veritable, veritably, very much, vitally, whacking, whopping