Verve
noun ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Enthusiasm, rapture, spirit, or vigour, especially of imagination such as that which animates an artist, musician, or writer, in composing or performing. uncountable
"His hands were strong and elegant; his experience of life evidently varied; his speech full of pith and verve; his manners forward, but perfectly presentable."
- 2 an energetic style wordnet
- 3 A particular skill in writing. obsolete, uncountable
"If he be above Virgil, and is reſolv'd to follow his own Verve (as the French call it,) the Proverb will fall heavily upon him; Who teaches himſelf, has a Fool for his Maſter."
Example
More examples"The artist Jean-Louis Aubert is apparently right to say: "If you have joy in yourself, you could more easily catch happiness." Thus, in all circumstances, the blessed will never be completely cut down; he will always keep some verve. This could be called resilience."
Etymology
Borrowed from French verve (“animation; caprice, whim; rapture; spirit; vigour; type of expression”), probably from Late Latin verva, a variant of Latin verba (“words; discourse; expressions; language”), the plural of verbum (“word”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *werh₁- (“to say, speak”). Doublet of verb and word.
More for "verve"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.