very
/ˈvɛɹi/adverb, adjective
very is spelled V-E-R-Y. The wrong spelling people search most is verry: about 80 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 42 of all searches for the word. Very is an adverb meaning “To a great extent or degree”.
How many letters and syllables are in very?
| Letters | 4: V-E-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1,000 times per million words; the 105th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 5; the most searched, verry, about 80 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell very?
Very is spelled V-E-R-Y. 5 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 17 of the searches for very in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is very?
Very appears 1,000 times per million words in written English, the 105th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce very?
- US /ˈvɛɹi/
- Australia /ˈveɹi/
- /ˈvɛɾe/
Very has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-very.ogg, En-us-ne-very.ogg, En-us-very.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with very
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with very?
9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as very from its last stressed vowel (/ɛɹi/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of very
- verier comparative
- veriest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does very mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
To a great extent or degree.
That dress is very you.
- 2
Conforming to fact, reality or rule; true.
- 3
Used to firmly establish that nothing else surpasses in some respect.
He was the very best runner there.
adjective
- 1
True, real, actual.
the fierce hatred of a very woman
- 2
The same; identical.
He proposed marriage in the same restaurant, at the very table where they first met.
- 3
With limiting effect: mere.
The very idea of climbing the ladder brings me out in a sweat.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate very?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of very: v, v..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Very in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | très , vraiment , même |
| German | sehr, ganz, wahrlich , derselbe , aller- , alleinig |
| Portuguese | muito, assaz , de facto, de fato , próprio, o mesmo |
| Spanish | muy, -ísimo, requete-, recontra, requetecontra, harto |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does very come 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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).