very Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite precisely as stated
    • the very center of town
  2. adjective satellite being the exact same one; not any other:
    identical; selfsame.
    • 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
  3. adverb used as intensifiers; `real' is sometimes used informally for `really'; `rattling' is informal
    real; rattling; really.
    • she was very gifted
    • he played very well
    • a really enjoyable evening
    • I'm real sorry about it
    • a rattling good yarn
  4. adverb precisely so
    • on the very next page
    • he expected the very opposite

WordNet

Ver"y adjective
Etymology
OE. verai, verray, OF. verai, vrai, F. vrai, (assumed) LL. veracus, for L. verax true, veracious, fr. verus true; akin to OHG. & OS. war, G. wahr, D. waar; perhaps originally, that is or exists, and akin to E. was. Cf. Aver, v. t., Veracious, Verdict, Verity.
Wordforms
comparative Verier ; superlative Veriest
Definitions
  1. 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.
    ✍ 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.
Ver"y adverb
Definitions
  1. 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 1913