23 words starting with V

• vagary noun

  an unexpected and unpredictable change

  The vagaries of mountain weather make planning a trek difficult.

  Like whim, caprice, quirk

• vapid adjective

  dull and lacking interest or ideas

  The film had beautiful scenery but a vapid story.

  Like insipid, bland, dull

• variegated adjective

  marked with patches or streaks of different colors

  The variegated leaves of the plant were green with cream edges.

  Like multicolored, mottled, streaked

• vaunted adjective

  praised or boasted about, often too much

  The team’s vaunted defense let in three goals in the first half.

  Like celebrated, much-touted, boasted

• venal adjective

  willing to be bribed or to act dishonestly for money

  The venal inspector approved unsafe buildings in exchange for cash.

  Like corrupt, bribable, mercenary

• venerate verb

  to regard with great respect and honor

  Many people venerate the ancient temples of Patan.

  Like revere, honor, worship

• veracious adjective

  truthful and honest

  The veracious witness described exactly what she saw.

  Like truthful, honest, accurate

• verbiage noun

  too many words, or unnecessarily difficult words

  Cut the verbiage and say what your experiment showed.

  Like wordiness, verbosity, padding

• verdant adjective

  green with growing plants

  The verdant hills around Ilam are covered in tea gardens.

  Like green, lush, leafy

• verisimilitude noun

  the quality of seeming true or real

  The careful details of village life gave the novel great verisimilitude.

  Like realism, authenticity, plausibility

• verity noun

  a true principle or belief, especially a basic one

  The book explores the eternal verities of friendship and honesty.

  Like truth, fact, principle

• vicissitude noun

  a change of circumstances, usually unwelcome or unexpected

  The family’s shop survived the vicissitudes of fifty years of business.

  Like change, fluctuation, ups and downs

• vilify verb

  to speak or write about someone in a very insulting, abusive way

  The newspaper vilified the referee after the controversial match.

  Like defame, denigrate, malign

• vim noun

  energy and enthusiasm

  Grandpa tackled the garden with all the vim of a young man.

  Like vigor, energy, zest

• virulent adjective

  (of a disease) very harmful and spreading quickly; full of bitter hostility

  Scientists are studying how the virulent flu virus spreads among birds.

  Like deadly, malignant, venomous

• vitiate verb

  to spoil or weaken the quality or effectiveness of something

  One careless mistake in measurement vitiated the whole experiment.

  Like spoil, impair, undermine

• vitriolic adjective

  full of bitter, cruel criticism

  The writer received a vitriolic review of her first book but kept writing.

  Like scathing, caustic, venomous

• vituperate verb

  to criticize or insult someone harshly and angrily

  The grumpy neighbor vituperated anyone who parked near his gate.

  Like berate, revile, rail

• vituperation noun

  harsh, abusive criticism

  The play received so much vituperation from critics that it closed in a week.

  Like abuse, invective, vilification

• vituperative adjective

  full of harsh, abusive criticism

  He wrote a vituperative letter to the newspaper about the potholes.

  Like abusive, scathing, insulting

• voluble adjective

  talking fluently, readily, and at length

  Our voluble guide kept up a stream of stories all the way to the lake.

  Like talkative, garrulous, chatty

• voluminous adjective

  very large in size or amount; (of clothes) loose and full

  Her voluminous notes filled three thick notebooks.

  Like extensive, copious, capacious

• vouchsafe verb

  to give or grant something, often in a gracious or reluctant way

  The shy author vouchsafed only a few words about her next book.

  Like grant, bestow, give