veracious

adjective

ve·​ra·​cious və-ˈrā-shəs 

1

: truthful, honest

2

: marked by truth : accurate

veraciously adverb

veraciousness noun

Did you know?

Veracious or voracious?

Take care to distinguish between the near-homophones veracious and voracious, whose similarities in sound mask utterly different meanings. Veracious (“honest, truthful”), like its cousins veritable, verify, and very, concerns that which is true. Voracious (”having a greedy or insatiable appetite”), on the other hand, describes the urge to consume large quantities of something, often food, books, or ideas. One way to remember the difference is that the one with the E as its second letter means "truE," and the one with the O as its second letter means "ravenOus." Not coincidentally, these adjectives have near-homophonous noun derivatives: veracity ("truthfulness") and voracity ("the quality or state of being voracious").

Synonyms of veracious

• honest
• outspoken
• truthful
• reliable

Examples of veracious in a Sentence

he has a reputation for being veracious, so people generally take his word for things

most readers have accepted the book as a veracious account of Samuel Johnson's table talk

Recent Examples on the Web

As for elephant riding, the ACEWG notes that while veracious studies have not been conducted on elephants specifically, it is known that horses, dogs, and donkeys have a weight-carrying capacity of about 20-to-25 percent of their body weight. — Ashlea Halpern, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 Oct. 2018

Word History

Etymology

Latin vērāc-, vērāx "truthful" + -ious — more at very entry 2

First Known Use

circa 1677, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for veracious

• arenaceous
• argillaceous
• carbonaceous
• contumacious
• coriaceous
• efficacious
• farinaceous
• foliaceous
• membranaceous
• ochraceous
• olivaceous
• ostentatious

Kids Definition

veracious

adjective

ve·​ra·​cious və-ˈrā-shəs 

1

: telling the truth : truthful, honest

2

: being truthful or accurate

a veracious account of the events

veraciously adverb