very

A1 Topic:Describing Qualities

Also spelled Varrah, Varry, and wery

US /ˈvɛri/ UK /ˈvɛɹi/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like berry /v/ vs /b/

adv adj Freq #108

Meanings

1

adv
To a great degree; extremely.

It was a very cold morning.
2

adv
Used to emphasize that something is exactly the one mentioned.

This is the very book I was looking for.
3

adj
Exactly the same; identical.

He proposed at the very table where they first met.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adv · to a great degree; extremely. really terribly

3 adj · exactly the same; identical. selfsame

More absolutely abundantly completely damn eminently exceedingly excessively extremely flipping freakingfuckinggreatly

Opposites

almost mostly slightly

Word family

Forms veriest

Derived forms very-large-scalevery-lightvery-long-chain

Related forms degree quantity

Etymology

From Middle English verray, from Old French verai (“true”), from Early Medieval Latin vērāgus, from Classical Latin vērāx, derived from vērus, from Proto-Italic *wēros, from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁ros. Distantly cognate with the Old English wǣr (“true”). Over time displaced the use of a number of Germanic words or prefixes to convey the sense 'very' such as fele, full-, mægen, sore, sin-, swith, (partially) wel.

*weh₁- Proto-Indo-European verray Middle English verai Old French vērāgus la-eme vērāx la-cla *wēros Proto-Italic *weh₁ros Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

# very

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** adv, adj
**IPA (US):** ˈvɛri
**IPA (UK):** ˈvɛɹi
**Frequency rank:** 108

## Meanings
1. To a great degree; extremely.
2. Used to emphasize that something is exactly the one mentioned.
3. Exactly the same; identical.

## Examples
- It was a very cold morning.
- This is the very book I was looking for.
- He proposed at the very table where they first met.

## Synonyms
- absolutely
- abundantly
- completely
- damn
- eminently
- exceedingly
- excessively
- extremely
- flipping
- freaking
- fucking
- greatly

## Antonyms
- almost
- mostly
- slightly

## Derived Forms
- very-large-scale
- very-light
- very-long-chain

## Related Forms
- degree
- quantity

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *weh₁-
- Root: verray
- Root: verai
- Root: vērāgus
- Root: vērāx
- Root: *wēros
- Root: *weh₁ros

## Etymology
From Middle English verray, from Old French verai (“true”), from Early Medieval Latin vērāgus, from Classical Latin vērāx, derived from vērus, from Proto-Italic *wēros, from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁ros. Distantly cognate with the Old English wǣr (“true”). Over time displaced the use of a number of Germanic words or prefixes to convey the sense 'very' such as fele, full-, mægen, sore, sin-, swith, (partially) wel.

## AI Etymology
Very is from Middle English verray, from Old French verai (“true”), from Early Medieval Latin vērāgus, from Classical Latin vērāx, derived from vērus, from Proto-Italic *wēros, from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁ros. Distantly cognate with the Old English wǣr (“true”). Over time displaced the use of a number of Germanic words or prefixes to convey the sense 'very' such as fele, full-, mægen, sore, sin-, swith, (partially) wel. In present-day use, it can mean to a great degree; extremely, or used to emphasize that something is exactly the one mentioned.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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