verve
Americannoun
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enthusiasm or vigor, as in literary or artistic work; spirit.
Her latest novel lacks verve.
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vivaciousness; liveliness; animation.
I like a teacher with plenty of verve.
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Archaic. talent.
noun
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great vitality, enthusiasm, and liveliness; sparkle
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a rare word for talent
Etymology
Origin of verve
1690–1700; < French: enthusiasm, whim, chatter, apparently < Latin verba words, talk, plural (taken in VL as feminine singular) of verbum word; verb
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“As my father’s words to me, they ring out loud and clear today,” he said with the sort of verve that is rarely heard around the team these days.
From Los Angeles Times
Though the story wells with tenderness, it isn’t executed with much verve.
By Wednesday afternoon, the president had apparently decided to try to bring some of his verve and bombast to the White House’s East Room.
From Salon
With the animation of her ponytail helping to complete the flashing dynamics of her often-prancing moves, Ms. Nadon gained even more flair when joined by Mr. Tomash—who matched her verve, accentuation for accentuation.
Whereas Batman had his tragic back story, making him moody and tortured, and Spider-Man had the youthful verve of a kid from Queens, Superman was always kind of a square.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
