verve
[vurv]
- enthusiasm or vigor, as in literary or artistic work; spirit: Her latest novel lacks verve.
- vivaciousness; liveliness; animation: I like a teacher with plenty of verve.
- Archaic. talent.
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Origin of verve
1690–1700; < French: enthusiasm, whim, chatter, apparently < Latin verba words, talk, plural (taken in VL as feminine singular) of verbum word; see verb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for verve
Contemporary Examples
A new history tells their remarkable story with sensitivity and verve writes Wendy Smith.
And so the question now is not only whether Ryan can reenergize the Romney campaign with his vision and verve.
And a candidate with some verve— Michele Bachmann comes to mind—is catnip for the cameras.
Where the Austin building is nuanced and almost spectral, Bakersfield is all verve and gesture.
Obama's Building Boom: Will His Architecture Legacy Be as Lasting as FDR's?Ian Volner
January 4, 2011
What is more, she writes with verve, tongue-in-cheek humor, and elegance.
Historical Examples
The vigour and verve of these marching musicians is very surprising.
Ireland as It IsRobert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)
His execution (p. 063) had a verve whose charm was irresistible.
War Letters of a Public-School BoyPaul Jones.
He felt anew what he had felt and seen, and he could not give any verve to the peroration of his sermon.
In a Little TownRupert Hughes
She is just about your size and dances with the verve of youth, which I admire extremely.
Floyd Grandon's HonorAmanda Minnie Douglas
There was a verve, a magnetic quality to her, that he hardly remembered before.
Jewel WeedAlice Ames Winter
verve
- great vitality, enthusiasm, and liveliness; sparkle
- a rare word for talent
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Word Origin
C17: from Old French: garrulity, from Latin verba words, chatter
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for verve
n.
1690s, "special talent in writing," from French verve "enthusiasm" (especially pertaining to the arts), in Old French "caprice, odd humor, proverb" (12c.), probably from Gallo-Romance *verva, from Latin verba "(whimsical) words," plural of verbum "word" (see verb). Meaning "mental vigor" is first recorded 1803.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper