vacuous
[VAK-yuh-wus]
1. emptied of or lacking content
2. marked by lack of ideas or intelligence
Synonyms: stupid, inane
Example:
Alyssa was told that her blind date was well-read and articulate, so she was disappointed to discover that he was a vacuous bore.
3. devoid of serious occupation
Synonym: idle
History, rrlated words:
As you might have guessed, "vacuous" shares the same root as "vacuum" - the Latin adjective "vacuus," meaning "empty." This root also gave us the noun "vacuity" (the oldest meaning of which is "an empty space") as well as the verb "evacuate" (originally "to remove the contents of; empty"). Its predecessor, the verb "vacare," is also an ancestor of the words "vacation" and "vacancy" as well as "void." All of these words suggest an emptiness of space, or else a fleeing of people or things from one place to another. "Vacuous" first appeared in English in the middle of the 17th century, literally describing something that was empty, but then acquired its figurative usage, describing one who is lacking any substance of the mind, in the mid-1800s.


vade mecum

• vade
• mecum

[vay-dee-MEE-kuhm; vah-dee-MAY-]
1. A book for ready reference; a manual; a handbook.
2. A useful thing that one regularly carries about.
Examples:
1) The reader who wants honestly to understand it, and not merely read into it his own ideas, needs some kind of vade mecum to provide the necessary background and explain unfamiliar words and allusions and strange turns of thought. (Robert C. Dentan, "Including Uz and Buz", New York Times, November 17, 1968)
2) Roget's Thesaurus, which had come into being as a linguistic example of the Platonic ideal, became instead a vade mecum for the crossword cheat. (Simon Winchester, "Word Imperfect", The Atlantic, May 2001)
Etymology:
"Vade mecum" is from Latin, literally meaning "go with me".


vagary
[VAY-guh-ree; vuh-GER-ee]
An extravagant, erratic, or unpredictable notion, action, or occurrence.
Examples:
1) Her words are a dreadful reminder that much of life's consequences are resultant of vagary and caprice, dictated by the tragedy of the ill-considered action, the irrevocable misstep, the irrevocable moment in which a terrible wrong can seem the only right. (Rosemary Mahoney, "Acts of Mercy?", New York Times, September 13, 1998)
2) Weather is one of the vagaries of blue-water racing, ruling the sport like a malicious jester. (Martin Dugard, "Knockdown")
3) This thing called love was a total mystery to me, but the vagaries of passion and despair that accompanied each devotion kept my life in high drama. (Jane Alexander, "Command Performance")
Etymology:
"Vagary" comes from Latin "vagari" ("to stroll about, to wander"), from "vagus" ("wandering").


vainglory

• vainglorious

[VAYN-glor-ee; vayn-GLOR-ee]
1. Excessive pride in one's achievements, abilities, qualities, etc.
2. Vain display.
Examples:
1) Spurred by the vainglory of being the first person in recent memory to catch a Solovki canal trout on a fly, I fished with newfound intensity. (Fen Montaigne, "Reeling in Russia")
2) As if to underscore the awkward mix of social unease and vainglory on which such claims are based, they are always delivered in the same triumphant tone: 'We have the tallest high-rise flats, the longest wall, the largest community of artists... in Europe.' (Deyan Sudjic, "The race to be a Capital of Culture is a non-starter," The Observer, April 15, 2001)
Etymology, related words:
"Vainglory" is from Middle English "vein glory", ultimately from Latin "vana gloria" ("empty pride"), from "vana" ("empty") and "gloria" ("glory, pride"). The adjective form is vainglorious.


valetudinarian
[val-uh-too-duh-NAIR-ee-un]
A person of a weak or sickly constitution; especially: one whose chief concern is being or becoming a chronic invalid.
Example:
Will complained constantly of his aches, pains, and sniffles; he was a terrible valetudinarian.
History, related words:
It's ironic that hypochondriacs and others who are convinced that their health is fragile often outlive their heartier compatriots. It is also ironic that "valetudinarian," a word for someone who is sickly (or at least thinks he or she is) comes from "valere," a Latin word that means "to be strong" or "to be well." Most of the English offspring of "valere" imply having some kind of strength or force - consider, for instance, "valiant," "prevail," "valor," and "value." But the Latin "valere" also gave rise to "valetudo." In Latin, "valetudo" refers to one's state of health (whether good or bad), but by the time that root had given rise to "valetudinarian" in the early 1700s, English-speaking pessimists had given it a decidedly sickly spin.


vamoose
[vuh-MOOSS]
To depart quickly.
Example:
With Sheriff Barclay and his posse hot on their tails, the bank robbers knew they had better vamoose.
Etymology:
In the 1820s and '30s, the American Southwest was rough-and-tumble territory - the true Wild West. English-speaking cowboys, Texas Rangers, and gold prospectors regularly rubbed elbows with Spanish-speaking vaqueros in the local saloons, and a certain amount of linguistic intermixing was inevitable. One Spanish term that caught on with English speakers was "vamos," which means "let's go." Cowpokes and dudes alike adopted the word, at first using a range of spellings and pronunciations that varied considerably in their proximity to the original Spanish form, but when the dust settled, the version most American English speakers were using was "vamoose."


vanilla
[vuh-NILL-uh]
1. Flavored with vanilla.
2. Lacking distinction : plain, ordinary, conventional.
Example:
The Razorbacks [football team] backed off the blitz and played vanilla defense in the second half... (Scott Cain, "Arkansas Democrat-Gazette", November 16, 2003)
Etymology:
For lexicographers, "vanilla" has more flavor than "chocolate," because it adds a tasty synonym for "plain" to the English menu. The noun "vanilla" was first served up in 1662, but it took almost 200 years for its adjective use to become established for things, like ice and sugar, flavored with vanilla. By the 1970s vanilla was perceived as being the plain flavor of the ice-cream world, and people began using the word itself to describe anything plain, ordinary, or conventional.


vanward

• advanced
• advance
• vanguard
• van

[VAN-werd]
Located in the vanguard.
Synonym: advanced
Example:
[Joint venturing] opportunities now exist for vanward companies in a variety of industries, especially other financial services businesses and retailing. (Vikas Kapoor, "American Banker", February 6, 1998)
Etymology, related words:
The troops at the head of an army are called the "vanguard," and that word can also mean "the forefront of an action or movement." It was "vanguard," rather than "vanward," that led the way on the route into English. "Vanguard" was first documented in English in the 15th century. By the early 17th century, it was sometimes shortened to "van" - a reference might be made to an army's "van and rear." Some 200 years later "vanward" brought up the rear, making its English debut when writers appended "-ward," an adjective suffix meaning "is situated in the direction of," to the shortened "van," thereby creating a word meaning "in the forefront."


vapid

• flat
• dull
• inane
• insipid

[VAP-id]
lacking liveliness, tang, briskness, or force
Synonyms: flat, dull, inane, insipid
Example:
The movie was billed as a gripping summer blockbuster but turned out to be a vapid effort with a slow pace and a poorly written script.
History:
"Then away goes the brisk and pleasant Spirits and leave a vapid or sour Drink." So wrote John Mortimer, an early 18th-century expert on agriculture, orchards, and cider-making, in his book on husbandry. His use was typical for his day, when "vapid" was often used specifically in reference to liquor. The term, which entered English in the 17th century, comes from "vapidus," a Latin word that means "flat-tasting" and may be related to "vapor." These days people referring to wine as "vapid"; the word is used in plenty of other situations, too. "Vapid," along with its synonyms, is often used to describe people and things that lack spirit and character.


vapor
[VAY-per]
1. To rise or pass off in vapor.
2. To emit vapor.
3. To indulge in bragging, blustering, or idle talk.
Example:
Team members vapored all week about how they were going to steamroller the opposing team, but come crunch time they failed to produce.
Etymology, related words, examples:
Speakers of the English language, mindful of the lightness and unsubstantiality of floating air and gas, have put several airy words to good use over the years to describe the act of talking idly or boastfully. The earliest such word is "blow" (as in "he kept blowing about his new job"), which drifted into English sometime about 1400. "Vapor" wafted into the language in 1628, and a little over 200 years later "windbags," later also known as "gasbags," not only blew and vapored but also "gassed" about anything they could.


vaporware
[VAY-per-wair]
A computer-related product that has been widely advertised but has not and may never become available.
Example:
Experts in the computer industry suspected that the vaporware being pushed by the software company was still full of bugs and would never hit the market.
History:
The practice of marketing products before they are available for sale is common to many industries, but especially the computer industry, where technological advancement is rapid and competition cutthroat. Unforeseen glitches occasionally result in the marketing of products that ultimately never see the light of day. Since the 1980s, such phantom computer products have been referred to by the word "vaporware," which is modeled after familiar computer terms such as "software" and "hardware." The word plays on the humorous notion of "vapors" being equated with rumors surrounding the development of a product that appears to be on its way but that never actually materializes.


varicolored

• varicoloured
• varicolor
• varicolour

[VER-ih-kuh-lurd]
Having a variety of colors; of various colors.
Examples:
1) Where a bottleneck of sky showed between the hills, dark and light clouds lay in alternating layers like varicolored liquid that would not mix. (William Gay, "The Long Home")
2) Along with wild hogs, cattle, horses, and dogs, the varicolored wild African jungle fowl was domesticated early in our distant ancestors' spread around the globe. (Buff Orpingtons, "Save the chickens!" Mother Earth News, December 10, 1996)
Etymology:
"Varicolored" is from "vari-" (from Latin "varius" - "various, diversified") + "colored" (from Latin "color" - "color, tint, hue.")


variegated
[VAIR-ee-uh-gay-tid] 1. Having marks or patches of different colors; as, "variegated leaves or flowers". 2. Varied; distinguished or characterized by variety; diversified.
Examples:
1) We spotted variegated hollies, wild mahonia, bergenia, vinca and cotoneaster growing freely between the markers, and as we made our way up and down the fragrant paths, pausing over the monuments to the dead that nestled, neglected, in the tousled undergrowth, we felt like explorers in a haunted jungle. (Caroline Seebohm, "Ambushed by Brussels", New York Times, August 22, 1999)
2) Colours range from golden yellow to blue and include conspicuously variegated examples. (Catherine Fieldman, "Hostas don't bear grudges", Times (London), September 2, 2000)
3) But as no one was being hurt, you were right to sit quietly and marvel at the variegated - and sometimes idiotic - beliefs of humanity. (Randy Cohen, "What Can I Say?", New York Times Magazine, July 11, 1999)
Etymology:
"Variegated" derives from the past participle of Late Latin "variegare", from Latin "varius" ("various") + "agere" ("to do, to make").


vatic

• prophetic
• oracular

[VAT-ik]
Of or characteristic of a prophet or prophecy.
Synonyms: prophetic; oracular.
Examples:
1) [He] needs to be reminded that... his poetry is just that - poetry, not the vatic revelation of spiritual truth. (Ruth Franklin, "Black Milk of Language," New Republic, December 25, 2000)
2) One encounters plenty of vatic pronouncements in the pages devoted to, among others, Muriel Rukeyser, Kenneth Rexroth, William Everson, H. D. and Olson. (William H. Pritchard, "Eliot, Frost, Ma Rainey and the Rest," New York Times, April 2, 2000)
Etymology:
"Vatic" comes from Latin "vates" - "a prophet, a soothsayer, a seer."


vaticination

• vaticinian
• vaticinar
• vaticinatress
• vaticiny
• vatic
• vaticinal

1. Prediction.
Example:
The Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court could make his vaticination - "I will blot out the sun" - because he knew the exact day and hour of a solar eclipse that occurred in the year 528.
2. The act of prophesying.
Etymology:
"Vaticination" is based on the Latin "vates", meaning "prophet". It has endured better than other words of the same origin: "vaticinian" (prophetic), "vaticinar" (prophet), "vaticinatress" (prophetess), and "vaticiny" (prophesy) have all faded into obscurity (although two synonyms of "prophetic," "vatic" and "vaticinal", also keep the "vates" lineage alive today).


vaunted

• boast
• crow
• vaunt
• brag

[VAWN-tud]
Highly or widely praised or boasted about.
Example:
For all her vaunted writing talent, Pauline has yet to find a publisher for her book.
History, synonyms, more examples:
1340 (implied in "vaunting"), from M.Fr. "vanter" ("to praise, speak highly of"), from L.L. "vanitare" ("to boast"), frequentative of L. "vanare" ("to utter empty words"), from "vanus" ("idle, empty").
It's fine to express pride in your accomplishments, but synonyms such as "boast," "brag" ("exaggerate about oneself"), "vaunt," and "crow" may suggest you've overdone it. "Boast," for instance, implies ostentation and exaggeration ("he boasts of every trivial success"), although it can connote justifiable pride ("the town boasts an excellent museum"). "Crow" is ideal for exultant boasting or bragging ("they crowed about winning the championship"). "Vaunt" usually imparts less crudity or naivete than "brag" and more pomp and bombast than "boast" ("the promotional flier vaunts the natural beauty of the area").


veg out

• veg

To spend time relaxing, doing nothing at all.
Examples:
1) After a long day at work, I usually just veg out in front of the TV. 2) I'm going to the mountains to veg out for a few days.
Etymology:
"Veg" is short for "vegetable" (corn, potato, peas, etc.). When you "veg out" you become like a vegetable - without thought or motion.


vegan
vegetarian who does not eat any animal products at all

velocipede

• draisine
• dandy-horse
• hobby-horse
• velocipedist

An early type of bicycle.
Example:
The "Times" reported in June 1819 that "Mrs. Bearham, wife of Mr. Bearham, maltster, of Hunsley, Hants, returning home lately in her cart, the horse took fright at a velocipede and she was thrown out and killed on the spot."
History, synonyms, related words:
It appeared on English roads about 1818: a strange vehicle with two wheels, one behind the other, joined by a horizontal beam on which the rider sat, pushing the contraption along with his feet. This was an early precursor of our modern bicycle, the invention of a German named Karl Drais. The name for the contraption was varied: Drais called it a "Laufmaschine", a running machine; the French described it as a "velocipede", from the Latin words for "swift feet". The English borrowed the French term, but also called it a "draisine" after the German inventor, as well as "dandy-horse" (because it was taken up by the fashionable young men of the period called dandies), or a "hobby-horse" (abbreviated to "hobby"), after the ancient toy of a stick with a horse's head that children would pretend to ride. The machines seemed innocuous enough, but they caused problems. They weren't easy to learn to ride, since nobody had any experience of the art of balancing required. The original Drais version had a brake, but the ripped-off French, English and American versions didn't, which resulted in accidents. Roads, even in towns, were often so rutted that riders took to the pavements (sidewalks), to the terror of pedestrians.
A rider of an early type of bicycle was called "velocipedist".


velocitize

• velocitization

To cause a person to become used to a fast speed.
velocitization - n.
Examples:
1) Safety experts argue that speeding has "velocitizing" effects on drivers, making it harder for them to slow down when conditions change and it's urgent to do so. ("The mentality behind the wheel", The Oregonian, December 10, 2003)
2) He then described a road evil called "driver velocitization". "Our freeways have cables on them to keep people from slamming into each other, but drivers become velocitized. When they enter a rural road from a freeway, for instance, and the speed changes from 65 mph to 55 mph, their perception is that speeding is OK, so they don't slow down," Vitolo said. (Carol McAlice Currie, "Raise the speed limit? That's just plain silliness", Statesman Journal (Salem, OR), April 15, 2003)
3) But the four-speed automatic transmission upshifts and downshifts very smoothly and the car accelerates well at speed and cruises so effortlessly and comfortably that it's very easy to become velocitized and suddenly realize you're driving a steady 80 mph. (Russ DeVault, "Ford Merkur Scorpio a new touring sedan that deserves raves", Atlanta Journal and Constitution, June 13, 1987)
Etymology:
From "velocity" - early 15c., from L. "velocitas" ("swiftness, speed"), from "velox" (gen. "velocis") - "swift", perhaps related to "vehere" ("carry").

venal

• venial

[VEE-nuhl] 1. Capable of being bought or obtained for money or other valuable consideration; held for sale; salable; purchasable. 2. Capable of being corrupted. 3. Marked by or associated with bribery and corrupt dealings.
Examples:
1) Not everything was so venal in this operation, however. Sometimes votes were bought outright, but this was frowned on if the sums were too high. (Kenneth R. Johnston, "The Hidden Wordsworth")
2) The news items accumulate to project an image of French politics as venal, power-mongering, and posing a crazy threat to all those values of humanity and civilization that Picasso's work had always embraced. (Rosalind E. Krauss, "The Picasso Papers")
3) While the enemy in Vietnam was mysterious and, to some Americans, heroic, America's allies in Saigon seemed venal and corrupt, more interested in graft than in combat and unable to rally their people behind a common cause or to create an effective military force. (Charles E. Neu, "After Vietnam")
4) Magistrates were expected to supplement their modest incomes, in theory from personal fortunes, in reality from a variety of venal practices. (Michelle De Kretser, "The Rose Grower")
Etymology, related words:
"Venal" comes from the Latin "venalis", from "venum" ("sale"). It is related to "vendor" and "vending machine". Be careful not to confuse it with "venial" ("easily excused or forgiven").


vendetta
[ven-DET-uh]
1. A feud between different clans or families; blood feud.
2. An often prolonged series of retaliatory, vengeful, or hostile acts or exchange of such acts.
Example:
From the day the ants swarmed over Gram's apple pie in her own kitchen, their eradication took the form of a personal vendetta - she vowed to exterminate them at any cost.
History, related words:
"Vendetta" has been getting even in English since the mid-19th century. English speakers borrowed "vendetta," spelling and all, from Italian, in which it means "revenge." It ultimately traces to the Latin verb "vindicare," which means "to lay claim to" or "to avenge." That Latin word is also in the family tree of many other English terms related to getting even, including "avenge," "revenge," "vengeance," "vindicate," and "vindictive."


venial

• excusable
• pardonable
• venal

[VEE-nee-uhl]
Capable of being forgiven; not heinous.
Synonyms: excusable; pardonable.
Examples:
1) Look less severely on a venial error. (Jean Racine, "Phaedra", translated by Robert Bruce Boswell)
2) His mistake might in other circumstances have seemed a venial one. (Michael Knox Beran, "The Last Patrician")
3) Committing adultery was a mortal sin, while eating meat on Fridays was a venial sin. (Sheryl McCarthy, "O'Connor Proposal for Meatless Day Is Thoughtless," Newsday, August 12, 1996)
Etymology, related words:
"Venial" comes from Latin "venia" ("grace, indulgence, favor"). Venial sins are contrasted with mortal ones. It is not to be confused with "venal", which means "capable of being bought; salable; open to bribery," and comes from Latin "venum" ("sale").


vent

• ventilate
• blow off steam
• blow off
• steam

To express suppressed emotions; to let one's feelings out into the open.
Examples:
1) Don't take his remarks too seriously - he's just venting. 2) Thanks for listening. I really needed to vent.
Etymology:
A "vent" is an opening which allows air or steam to escape, and "ventilate" means "to allow fresh air to enter". So when a person "vents", he cleans his mind and emotions by allowing all the hot, pressurized thoughts and complaints out into the air. Synonym: blow off steam

verbiage

• diction

1. a profusion of words usually of little or obscure content.
Example:
One of the tasks of an editor is to remove verbiage and render a piece concise and coherent.
2. manner of expressing oneself in words.
Synonym: diction.
Etymology:
"Verbiage" descends from Middle French "verbier" ("to chatter"), itself an offspring of "werbler," an Old French word meaning "to trill." The usual sense of the word implies an overabundance of possibly unnecessary words. It is similar to "wordiness", except that it stresses the superfluous words themselves more than the quality that produces them. In other words, a writer with a fondness for "verbiage" might be accused of "wordiness". Some people think the phrase "excess verbiage" is redundant, but that's not necessarily true. In the early 19th century, "verbiage" developed a second sense meaning, simply, "wording", with no suggestion of excess. This second definition has sometimes been treated as an error by people who insist that "verbiage" must always imply excessiveness, but that sense is well-established and can be considered standard.


verbose

• wordy
• verbal

[vuhr-BOHS]
1. Abounding in words; using or containing more words than are necessary; tedious by an excess of words; impaired by wordiness.
2. Given to wordiness.
Synonym: wordy, verbal; as, "a verbose speaker; a verbose argument."
Examples:
1) ... his singular style of flattening verbose politicians with the phrase: "Will you please get to the point." (Paul McCann, "Pioneer of TV debate put end to deference," Times (London), August 8, 2000)
2) One reason I admire Oscar is that he's the least verbose, if sometimes plain to the point of being uninteresting. (Frank Rich, "Conversations with Sondheim," New York Times Magazine, March 12, 2000)
3) Many tombstones have inscriptions that are not only touching but also, by modern standards, verbose. (Francine Prose, "Entering New Castle, Del.," New York Times Magazine, February 27, 2000)
4) The writing style in government publications is often both dry and verbose - a deadly combination.
Etymology, related words:
There's no shortage of words to describe wordiness in English. "Diffuse," "long-winded," "prolix," "redundant," "windy," "repetitive," "loose," "rambling," "digressive," and "circumlocutory" are some that come to mind. Want to express the opposite idea? Try "succinct," "concise," "brief," "short," "summary," "terse," "precise," "compact," "lean," "tight," or "compendious." "Verbose," which falls solidly into the first camp of words, comes from Latin "verbosus," from "verbum," meaning "word." Other descendants of "verbum" include "verb," "adverb," "proverb," "verbal," "verbatim," and "verbicide" (that's the deliberate distortion of the sense of a word).

verboten
[ver-BOH-tun]
1. Forbidden; especially: prohibited by dictate.
2. Something forbidden by authority.
Example:
During the era of prohibition in the United States, when the sale of alcohol was verboten, speakeasies were routinely raided by the authorities and shut down.
Etymology, more examples:
Despite its spelling, the adjective "verboten" has nothing to do with "verb," or any of the other words in the English language related to the Latin "verbum." Rather, "verboten" comes from German, which got it from Old High German "farboten," the past participle of the verb "farbioten," meaning "to forbid." ("Forbid" itself derives from Old English "forbeodan," a relative of "farbioten".) "Verboten," which first appeared in English in 1916, is used to describe things that are forbidden according to a law or a highly regarded authority. There also exists a noun "verboten," meaning "something forbidden by authority" (as in "well-established verbotens"), but this sense is quite rare and is typically entered only in large, unabridged dictionaries.


verbunkos
a dance performed to persuade people to enlist in the Hungarian army


verdant
[VUR-dnt]
1. Covered with growing plants or grass; green with vegetation.
2. Green.
3. Unripe in knowledge, judgment, or experience; unsophisticated; green.
Examples:
1) Drab in winter, then suddenly sodden with alpine runoff, the region turns dazzlingly verdant in spring. (Patricia Albers, "Shadows, Fire, Snow")
2) Dry as the region just outside the delta may be, it would still be covered with grasses, yellowish in the dry season, verdant in the wet. (Niles Eldredge, "Life in the Balance")
3) I was verdant enough to think her Agrippine very fine. (Henry James, "The Theatre Francais")
Etymology:
"Verdant" comes from French "verdoyant", present participle of "verdoyer" ("to be verdant, to grow green"), from Old French "verdoier, verdeier", from "verd, vert" ("green"), from Latin "viridis" ("green"), from "virere" ("to be green").


verdure
[VUR-jur]
Green; greenness; freshness of vegetation; as, "the verdure of the meadows in June."
Examples:
1) A wide expanse of living verdure, cultivated gardens, shady groves, fertile cornfields, flowed round it like a sea. (Motley)
2) The first white settlers in the area started as yeomen, scouring the land of trees and verdure to create and homesteads. (Claude Andrew Clegg III, "An Original Man")
3) The road silent, somnolent yet with a speech of its own, speaking back to them, father and child, through trappings of sun and fretted verdure, speaking of the old mutinies and a fresh crime mounting in the blood. (Edna O'Brien, "Down by the River")
Etymology:
"Verdure" is from Old French "verd" ("green"), from Latin "viridis".


verisimilitude

• verisimilar

1. The appearance of truth; the quality of seeming to be true.
2. Something that has the appearance of being true or real.
Examples:
1) In an attempt to create verisimilitude, in addition to the usual vulgarities, the dialogue is full of street slang. (Wilborn Hampton, "'Sugar Down Billie Hoak': An Unexpected Spot to Find a Father", New York Times, August 1, 1997)
2) For those plays, Ms. Smith interviewed hundreds of people of different races and ages, somehow managing to internalize their expressions, anger and quirks enough to be able to portray them with astonishing verisimilitude. (Sarah Boxer, "An Experiment in Artistic Democracy", New York Times, August 7, 2000)
3) The old man's massive forehead, penetrating eyes and enormous beard lent verisimilitude to this unappealing portrait. ("Charm itself", Economist, October 16, 1999)
Etymology:
"Verisimilitude" comes from Latin "verisimilitudo", from "verisimilis", from "verus" ("true") + "similis" ("like, resembling, similar"). The adjective form is "verisimilar".


verjuice
[VER-joos]
1. the sour juice of crab apples or of unripe fruit (as grapes or apples); an acid liquor made from verjuice
Example:
The other women took to their Bibles and hymnbooks, and looked as sour as verjuice over their reading. (Wilkie Collins, "The Moonstone")
2. acidity of disposition or manner
Etymology:
"Verjuice" has been getting some attention lately - it's "a recent buzzword on the culinary scene". For those of us not on the culinary edge, verjuice is a tart, pale juice pressed from unripe white grapes, ideal for use in sauces and salad dressings. "Verjuice" has been around for centuries and is used in Dijon mustard, but the word (a descendant of Anglo-French "vert", meaning "green", and "jous", meaning "juice") was largely forgotten by English speakers until its "rediscovery" in the early 90s. While it's apparent that "verjuice" has returned to our kitchens, the same can't yet be said of the literary scene. Writers have not generally begun to write of "dispositions of verjuice" the way they did in the past.


vermicular

• vermicelli
• vermiculate

[ver-MIK-yuh-ler]
1. Resembling a worm in form or motion.
2. Marked with irregular fine lines or with wavy impressed lines.
3. Of, relating to, or caused by worms.
Example:
[The painting] 'Evening' shows what was likely a meandering stream that in Criss's treatment is less vermicular than just plain geometric. (Susan Lindt, "Intelligencer Journal" [Lancaster, PA], July 3, 2003)
Etymology, related words:
What does the word "vermicular" have in common with the pasta on your plate? If you're eating vermicelli (a spaghetti-like pasta made in long thin strings) the answer is "vermis," a Latin noun meaning "worm." "Vermis" is the root underlying not only "vermicular" and "vermicelli," but also "vermiculate" (which can mean either "full of worms" or "tortuous") and even "worm" itself.


vernal
[VER-nul]
1. Of, relating to, or occurring in the spring.
2. Fresh or new like the spring; suggestive of youth; vigorous and fresh.
Synonym: youthful
3. (Astron.) Equinox, the time when the sun crosses the equator when proceeding northward.
4. (Astron.) The signs, Aries, Taurus, and Gemini, in which the sun appears between the vernal equinox and summer solstice. 5. (Bot.) Grass, a low, soft grass (anthoxanthum odoratum), producing in the spring narrow spikelike panicles, and noted for the delicious fragrance which it gives to new-mown hay.
Synonym: sweet vernal grass
Examples:
1) I consented and, likewise, I wanted to explore the thicket of your thighs, which to my delight I found heavy with vernal dew.
2) The stream began to murmur by the door, and the fragrance of growing herbs and flowers came softly on the vernal breeze. (Mark Twain, "Life on the Mississippi")
3) This is officially the last of the Zodiacal constellations, though since it now contains the Vernal Equinox it really ought to be the first.
4) Perhaps against expectations the Pastoral receives a performance of radiant, vernal openheartedness. History:
If you want to sound sophisticated this spring, you can do what various learned individuals have done since the 16th century and refer to the spring equinox as the vernal equinox. You might also say that it is not April showers but vernal showers that bring May flowers (with help from the vernal sun, of course). And if you really want to wax poetic, you might compliment your lass's vernal grace or your beau's vernal charm. If you do, and your sweetheart asks where such a word comes from, you can further impress by saying, "'Vernal,' my dear, comes from the Latin 'vernalis,' which is derived from the Latin word for spring, 'ver.'"


vertiginous
1. Affected with vertigo; giddy; dizzy.
2. Causing or tending to cause dizziness.
3. Turning round; whirling; revolving.
4. Inclined to change quickly or frequently; inconstant.
Examples:
1) But up close the building is impossibly steep, vertiginous, hostile. (Neil Baldwln, "Legends of the Plumed Serpent")
2) [H]e did us no good when, without permission, he entered Tibetan air space and flew up over central China, explaining that it was impossible to comply with the authorities' instructions to land because of the vertiginous mountain terrain. (Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones, "Around the World in 20 Days")
3) ... The bouldery ruins of vertiginous cliffs pounded and lashed by the fury of wind and water. (Lena Lencek and Gideon Bosker, "The Beach")
Etymology:
"Vertiginous" derives from Latin "vertigo" ("a turning round, a whirling round; giddiness"), from "vertere" ("to turn"). Related words include "reverse" ("to turn back ("re-") or around"); "subvert" ("to undermine") - from "sub-" ("under") + "vertere" (at root "to turn from under, to overturn"); and "versus" ("against") - from "versus" ("turned towards", hence "facing, opposed"), from the past participle of "vertere".


vet
1. To provide veterinary care for (an animal).
2. To provide (a person) with medical care.
3. To examine carefully; to subject to thorough appraisal; to evaluate.
4. To practice as a veterinarian.
5. Expert in the medical treatment of animals; animal doctor.
Examples:
1) She was the right age (in her fifties), and her personal background had been vetted during the Senate confirmation hearings. (Eleanor Clift and Tom Brazaitis, "Madam President")
2) The "Stasi files law," as it is popularly known, also made it possible to vet parliamentarians for Stasi connections. (John O. Koehler, "Stasi: The Untold Story of the East German Secret Police")
3) Unlike, say, Bob Rubin (the Wall Street investment banker and incoming head of the National Economic Council), who probably needed half a law firm to vet his portfolio, I had no stocks or bonds. (George Stephanopoulos, "All Too Human")
4) The vet left them in the staff room while they tried to discuss Lizzie's future. ("Dogs Today")
Etymology:
"Vet" is short for veterinary or veterinarian, which comes from Latin "veterinarius" ("of or belonging to beasts of burden and draught"), from "veterinus" ("of draught, of beasts of burden"). The earlier sense was "to submit to examination or treatment by a veterinary surgeon", hence "to subject to thorough appraisal".


vice investing

• vice
• investing
• vice investment
• vice investor
• investment
• investor
• vice-based investing
• vice-based
• sinful investing
• sinful
• unethical investing
• unethical

An investment strategy that targets companies selling products related to human vices, such as alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and weapons.
Examples:
1) Ms. Waxler says her basket of vice stocks outperformed the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index by 42 per cent for the five years to Dec. 31. Not only is vice investing more fun, she argues, it's financially sound: the sin stocks have little correlation to the overall market, and the more the economy tanks, the more people need their alcohol, tobacco and pornography. (Carolyn Leitch, "Tired of ethical investing? Profit from vice instead", The Globe and Mail, March 20, 2004)
2) The idea of vice investing has also created a buzz in the literary world. St. Martin's Press is due to release a new book on the subject by Dan Ahrens, manager of the VICE Fund. 'Investing in Vice: The Recession Proof Portfolio of Booze, Bets, Bombs, and Butts,' should be in bookstores nationwide in January 2004. ("Sin Stocks Pay Off!", Business Wire, October 7, 2003)
Etymology:
This phrase, from the Gordon Gekko "greed is good" school of investing, has been in the news of late thanks to the recent publication of two vice investing books: "Stocking Up on Sin" by Caroline Waxler (John Wiley; February, 2004) and "Investing in Vice" by Dan Ahrens (St. Martin's; February, 2004). As the second example citation points out, Ahrens is the manager of the Vice Fund, a mutual fund started in August, 2002 that, according to its prospectus, looks for "companies that derive a significant portion of their revenues from products often considered socially irresponsible".
Synonyms:
vice-based investing (2002)
sinful investing (2003)
unethical investing (2002); the latter being the proper linguistic and financial opposite of "ethical investing" (1980).


vice versa

• vice
• versa

When people use this Latin term, they mean, "exactly the same, but the other way round."
Example:
Martha comes to visit me once a year, and vice versa. That way we get to see each other twice a year.

vicious circle

• vicious
• circle
• Vicious spiral
• spiral

[VISH-us-SER-kul]
1. An argument or definition that assumes as true something that is to be proven or defined.
2. A chain of events in which the response to one difficulty creates a new problem that aggravates the original difficulty.
Example:
Lower profits lead to spending cuts, which cause falling sales, in a vicious circle.
History:
"Vicious circle" originally referred to a circular argument, that is, an argument that assumes the conclusion as one of its premises. That sense was first documented around the end of the 18th century. Approximately 50 years later, "vicious circle" acquired the now more common "chain of events" sense as people began to think of the circle as a metaphorical circle rather than a circular argument. Today, "vicious cycle" is a common variant for the "chain of events" sense. "Vicious spiral," in which the ill effects are cumulative as well as self-aggravating, puts in an occasional appearance as well.


vicissitude

• the vicissitudes of life
• vicissitudes of life
• vicissitudes
• life
• alternation
• inconstancy
• fluctuation

[vuh-SISS-uh-tood, vih-SIS-ih-tood; -tyood]
1. Regular change or succession from one thing to another; alternation; mutual succession; interchange.
2. Irregular change; revolution; mutation.
3. A change in condition or fortune; an instance of mutability in life or nature (especially successive alternation from one condition to another).
Synonyms: alternation, inconstancy, fluctuation.
Examples:
1) This man had, after many vicissitudes of fortune, sunk at last into abject and hopeless poverty. (Thomas Macaulay)
2) Max had rescued his father's gold watch