Very

• POS: Adjective, Adverb
• HYPHEN: ver=y

CIDE DICTIONARY

Very, a. [OE. verai, verray, OF. verai, vrai, F. vrai, (assumed) LL. veracus, for L. verax true, veracious, fr. verus true; akin to OHG. & OS. wār, 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.  [1913 Webster]
" 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."  [1913 Webster]
"Whether thou be my very son Esau or not."  [1913 Webster]
"He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends."  [1913 Webster]
"The very essence of truth is plainness and brightness."  [1913 Webster]
"I looked on the consideration of public service or public ornament to be real and very justice."  [1913 Webster]

Very Reverend. See the Note under Reverend.

Very, adv. 

 In a high degree; to no small extent; exceedingly; excessively; extremely; as, a very great mountain; a very bright sun; a very cold day; the river flows very rapidly; he was very much hurt.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Very, 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).

Idiom

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

THESAURUS

Very

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

ROGET THESAURUS

Very

Identity

N identity, sameness, coincidence, coalescence, convertibility, equality, selfness, self, oneself, identification, monotony, tautology, facsimile, homoousia: alter ego, ipsissima verba, same, self, very, one and the same, very thing, actual thing, real McCoy, no other, one and only, in the flesh, identical, self, ilk, the same, selfsame, one and the same, homoousian, coincide, coalescent, coalescing, indistinguishable, one, equivalent, tweedle dee and tweedle dum, much the same, of a muchness, unaltered, identically, on all fours.

Greatness

N greatness, magnitude, size, multitude, immensity, enormity, infinity, might, strength, intensity, fullness, importance, great quantity, quantity, deal, power, sight, pot, volume, world, mass, heap, stock, peck, bushel, load, cargo, cartload, wagonload, shipload, flood, spring tide, abundance, principal part, chief part, main part, greater part, major part, best part, essential part, bulk, mass, great, greater, large, considerable, fair, above par, big, huge, Herculean, cyclopean, ample, abundant, full, intense, strong, sound, passing, heavy, plenary, deep, high, signal, at its height, in the zenith, world-wide, widespread, far-famed, extensive, wholesale, many, goodly, noble, precious, mighty, sad, grave, heavy, serious, far gone, arrant, downright, utter, uttermost, crass, gross, arch, profound, intense, consummate, rank, uninitiated, red-hot, desperate, glaring, flagrant, stark staring, thorough-paced, thoroughgoing, roaring, thumping, extraordinary, important, unsurpassed, complete, august, grand, dignified, sublime, majestic, vast, immense, enormous, extreme, inordinate, excessive, extravagant, exorbitant, outrageous, preposterous, unconscionable, swinging, monstrous, overgrown, towering, stupendous, prodigious, astonishing, incredible, marvelous, unlimited, unapproachable, unutterable, indescribable, ineffable, unspeakable, inexpressible, beyond expression, fabulous, undiminished, unabated, unreduced, unrestricted, absolute, positive, stark, decided, unequivocal, essential, perfect, finished, remarkable, of mark, marked, pointed, veriest, noteworthy, renowned, truly, decidedly, unequivocally, purely, absolutely, seriously, essentially, fundamentally, radically, downright, in all conscience, for the most part, in the main, entirely, abundantly, widely, far and wide, greatly, much, muckle, well, indeed, very, very much, a deal, no end of, most, not a little, pretty, pretty well, enough, in a great measure, richly, to a large extent, to a great extent, to a gigantic extent, on a large scale, so, never so, ever so, ever so dole, scrap, shred, tag, splinter, rag, much, by wholesale, mighty, powerfully, with a witness, ultra, in the extreme, extremely, exceedingly, intensely, exquisitely, acutely, indefinitely, immeasurably, beyond compare, beyond comparison, beyond measure, beyond all bounds, incalculably, infinitely, preeminently, superlatively, immoderately, monstrously, preposterously, inordinately, exorbitantly, excessively, enormously, out of all proportion, with a vengeance, particularly, remarkably, singularly, curiously, uncommonly, unusually, peculiarly, notably, signally, strikingly, pointedly, mainly, chiefly, famously, egregiously, prominently, glaringly, emphatically, kat exochin, strangely, wonderfully, amazingly, surprisingly, astonishingly, incredibly, marvelously, awfully, stupendously, peculiarly, furiously, severely, desperately, tremendously, extravagantly, confoundedly, deucedly, devilishly, with a vengeance, a outrance, a toute outrance, painfully, sadly, grossly, sorely, bitterly, piteously, grievously, miserably, cruelly, woefully, lamentably, shockingly, frightfully, dreadfully, fearfully, terribly, horribly, a maximis ad minima, greatness knows itself, mightiest powers by deepest calms are fed, minimum decet libere cui multum licet, some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.