very.
To a great extent or degree.
Meaning & usage
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.
Used to firmly establish that nothing else surpasses in some respect.
He was the very best runner there.
This is my very own treehouse.
Where this word comes from
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.
True, real, actual.
the fierce hatred of a very woman
the very blood and bone of our grammar
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.
With limiting effect: mere.
The very idea of climbing the ladder brings me out in a sweat.
The very idea/thought!
Where this word comes from
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.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.