very

1 being one and not another we stayed in the very hotel my parents stayed in for their honeymoon Synonyms identical, selfsame, sameNear Antonyms differentiable, discriminable, disparate, dissimilar, distinct, distinctive, distinguishable, diverse, unalike, unlike, varied, variousAntonyms another, different, other

2 being this and no more the very thought of having to go through that again is scary Synonyms bare, mereRelated Words absolute, all-out, arrant, out-and-out, outright, pure, sheer, simple, stark, total, unadulterated, unalloyed, unmitigated, unqualified, utter; alone, lone, only, singular, sole, solitary, solo, unique

3 existing in fact and not merely as a possibility tourism is the very lifeblood of this community—the town would surely die without it Synonyms concrete, de facto, effective, existent, factual, genuine, real, sure-enough, true, actualRelated Words attested, authenticated, confirmed, demonstrated, established, proven, substantiated, valid, validated, verified; incontestable, incontrovertible, indisputable, indubitable, inescapable, irrefutable, undeniable, unquestionable; believable, convincing, literal, realistic, unmistakable, verifiable; authentic, bona fide, real-life, real-world; absolute, certain, final, hard, objective, palpable, positive, substantial, tangible; authoritative, certifiable, certifiedNear Antonyms alleged, assumed, reputed, supposed; conceived, envisaged, envisioned, imagined, pictured, visualized; chimerical (also chimeric), fabled, fanciful, fictional, fictitious, illusory, legendary; fabricated, fake, imaginary, invented, made-up, make-believe, pretend, romantic; abstract, symbolic, unreal; virtualAntonyms conjectural, hypothetical, ideal, inexistent, nonexistent, platonic, possible, potential, suppositional, theoretical (also theoretic)

4 having no exceptions or restrictions the very nerve of that woman—telling me how to raise my own children Synonyms all-out, arrant, blank, blooming [chiefly British], bodacious [Southern & Midland], categorical (also categoric), clean, complete, consummate, cotton-picking, crashing, damn, damned, dead, deadly, definite, downright, dreadful, fair, flat, flat-out, out-and-out, outright, perfect, plumb, profound, pure, rank, regular, sheer, simple, stark, stone, straight-out, thorough, thoroughgoing, total, unadulterated, unalloyed, unconditional, unmitigated, unqualified, utter, absoluteRelated Words authentic, classic, genuine, real, veritable; constant, endless, eternal, perpetual, undying, unremitting; extreme, unrestricted; confirmed, habitual, hopeless, inveterate; extraordinary, frightful, horrible, huge, main, superlative, supreme, surpassing, terrible, terrificNear Antonyms doubtful, dubious, equivocal, qualified, questionable, restricted, uncertain