very

/ˈvɛɹi/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Australia/ˈveɹi/

very adverb: to a great extent or degree.

Adverb

very (not comparable)

To a great extent or degree.
- That dress is very you.
- Not very many (of them) had been damaged.
Conforming to fact, reality or rule; true.

Synonyms:

truly, actually, authentically
Used to firmly establish that nothing else surpasses in some respect.
- He was the very best runner there.
- This is my very own treehouse.

Adjective

very (not generally comparable, comparative verier, superlative veriest)

(literary, not comparable, usually) True, real, actual.
- the fierce hatred of a very woman
- the very blood and bone of our grammar
(not comparable, usually) The same; identical.
- He proposed marriage in the same restaurant, at the very table where they first met.
- That's the very tool that I need.
Synonyms:

selfsame, ilk, wicked
(not comparable, usually) With limiting effect: mere.
- The very idea of climbing the ladder brings me out in a sweat.
- The very idea/thought!
Synonyms:

bare, simple, only, alone, just, mere

Proper noun capitalized: Very

Very

A surname, variant of Verey.

very meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

very in Tamil

to a high degree: மிகவும் mikavum, ரொம்ப rompa, மிக mika

very in Urdu

to a high degree: بَہُت bahut

More languagesFewer languages

very in Bengali: খুব khub
very in Telugu: చాలా cālā
very in Malayalam: വളരെ vaḷare
very in Kannada: ಬಹಳ bahaḷa, ತುಂಬಾ tumbā
very in Punjabi: ਬਹੁਤ bahut
very in Odia: ବହୁତ bahuta
very in Sanskrit: अति áti
very in Sinhala: හරි hari, හුඟක් huⁿgak
very in Assamese: বৰ bor, খুব khubo, নিচেই nisei
very in Nepali: एकदमै ekdamai, त्यै tyai
very in Pashto: ډېر ḍer
very in Tagalog: talaga, talagang, sobra, sobrang
very in Arabic: جِدًّا jiddan
very in Malay: sangat
very in Indonesian: sangat, nian, sekali, banget
very in Persian: بسیار besyâr, خیلی xeyli
very in Thai: มาก mâak, แสน sɛ̌ɛn
very in Vietnamese: rất, lắm, quá
very in Myanmar: တယ် tai, အလွန် a.lwan, အရမ်း a.ram:, သိပ် sip

Examples of very in a sentence

She's so very similar to her mother.
‘Is she busy?’ ― ‘Not very.’
In the end, the tickets didn't turn out so very expensive.
He tried his very best.
We're approaching the very end of the trip.
The very man I wanted to see!

All 40 example sentences with very

Synonyms of very

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of very

Forms of very

comparative	verier
superlative	veriest

Origin of very

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 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-, mæġen, sore, sin-, swīþe, (partially) wel.

Words formed from very

Phrases with very

Words that rhyme with very

9 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about very

What does very mean?: Very means to a great extent or degree.
What is very in Hindi?: Very in Hindi is बहुत (bahut). See Very meaning in Hindi.
How do you use very in a sentence?: She's so very similar to her mother.
What part of speech is very?: Very can be an adverb, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce very?: Very is pronounced /ˈvɛɹi/ (UK).

Words near very in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: very (page history and authors); Very (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-very.ogg, En-us-ne-very.ogg.

Cite this entry: “very.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/very. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.