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Meaning & use

verity

noun·Advancedformalliterary

Last updated

UK/ˈverɪti/
US/ˈverəti/

Meanings

  1. nouncountableformal

    A truth, especially a basic and lasting one that people accept as fundamental to life or belief.

    Grammar: Usually plural in use: the eternal verities. A single one is a verity.

    Patterns

    • the verities of something
    • a verity of something

    The old teacher spoke of the verities of honesty and hard work.

    Many poets treat love and death as eternal verities.

    He doubted the comfortable verities he had grown up with.

  2. noununcountableformalliterary

    The quality of being true, real or accurate.

    Grammar: No plural and no article: the verity of the report.

    Patterns

    • the verity of something
    • in verity

    Nobody could challenge the verity of her testimony.

    The historian checked the verity of each letter.

    The painting has a verity that photographs often lack.

Word forms

pluralverities

Common combinations

eternal verities
The novel returns again and again to eternal verities such as loyalty.
universal verity
Some think kindness is a universal verity found in every culture.
the verity of a claim
The committee questioned the verity of the claim.
timeless verities
The speech was full of timeless verities about courage.

Synonyms and how they differ

truth
Truth is the everyday word and fits any setting, while verity sounds elevated and often points to lasting principles.
truism
A truism is so obvious it hardly needs saying, whereas a verity is treated as deep and important.
axiom
An axiom is a rule accepted without proof in logic or science, while verity is more moral or philosophical.
veracity
Veracity usually means honesty of a speaker or accuracy of a statement, not a fundamental principle.

Opposites

falsehooduntruth

Word family

verify verb
to check that something is true
veritable adjective
real or genuine, used for emphasis
veritably adverb
truly, indeed
verification noun
the act of checking that something is true

Commonly confused: verity or veracity?

verity vs veracity

Veracity is the truthfulness of a person or statement, while verity is a truth itself or the state of being true.

Practice

The preacher spoke of the eternal ___ that guide every human life.

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