Very vs Far - What's the difference?
very | far |
True, real, actual.
:
*Bible, (w) xxvii. 21
*:whether thou be my very son Esau or not
*(John Milton) (1608-1674)
*:The very essence of truth is plainness and brightness.
*(Edmund Burke) (1729-1797)
*:I looked on the consideration of public service or public ornament to be real and very justice.
*
*:Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.
*{{quote-news, year=2012, date=November 7, author=Matt Bai, title=Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds, work=New York Times
, passage=The country’s first black president, and its first president to reach adulthood after the Vietnam War and Watergate, Mr. Obama seemed like a digital-age leader who could at last dislodge the stalemate between those who clung to the government of the Great Society, on the one hand, and those who disdained the very idea of government, on the other.}}
The same; identical.
:
*
*:Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the rickyard, and said she would pluck the pigeon that very night after work. She was always ready to do anything for us boys; and we could never quite make out why they scolded her so for an idle hussy indoors. It seemed so unjust. Looking back, I recollect she had very beautiful brown eyes.
With limiting effect: mere.
*, I.40:
*:We have many examples in our daies, yea in very children, of such as for feare of some slight incommoditie have yeelded unto death.
To a great extent or degree; extremely; exceedingly.
:
*
*:Then his sallow face brightened, for the hall had been carefully furnished, and was very clean. ¶ There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.
*, chapter=13
, title= True, truly.
:
Remote in space.
Remote in time.
Long.
More remote or longer of two.
* , chapter=19
, title= Extreme.
Widely different in nature or quality; opposite in character.
* F. Anstey
(computing, not comparable) Outside the currently selected segment in a segmented memory architecture.
Distant in space, time or degree.
:
*
*:It was not far from the house; but the ground sank into a depression there, and the ridge of it behind shut out everything except just the roof of the tallest hayrick. As one sat on the sward behind the elm, with the back turned on the rick and nothing in front but the tall elms and the oaks in the other hedge, it was quite easy to fancy it the verge of the prairie with the backwoods close by.
To or from a great distance, time, or degree.
:
(lb) Very much.
:
*{{quote-news, year=2012, date=May 5, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport
, title=
As adjectives the difference between very and far
is that very is true, real, actual while far is remote in space.As adverbs the difference between very and far
is that very is to a great extent or degree; extremely; exceedingly while far is distant in space, time or degree.As a noun far is
spelt (type of wheat).very
English
(wikipedia very)Adjective
(en-adj)citation
Synonyms
*Adverb
(-)The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=“[…] They talk of you as if you were Croesus—and I expect the beggars sponge on you unconscionably.” And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes.}}
Usage notes
* When used in their senses as degree adverbs, "very" and "too" never modify verbs.Synonyms
* (to a great extent) ever so, (l) (dialectal), (l) (archaic), (l) (dialectal)Statistics
*Anagrams
*far
English
(wikipedia far)Adjective
(en-adj)The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=At the far end of the houses the head gardener stood waiting for his mistress, and he gave her strips of bass to tie up her nosegay. This she did slowly and laboriously, with knuckly old fingers that shook.}}
- He was far from ill looking, though he thought himself still farther.
Antonyms
* (remote in space) close, nearDerived terms
* afar * as far as * by far * faraway * far from * far off * how far * so far * thus farAdverb
(en-adv)Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool, passage=The Reds were on the back foot early on when a catalogue of defensive errors led to Ramires giving Chelsea the lead. Jay Spearing conceded possession in midfield and Ramires escaped Jose Enrique far too easily before scoring at the near post with a shot Reina should have saved.}}