What does veritable mean?
Word: Veritable
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: used to stress that something really deserves a bigger or more impressive name.
Synonyms: real
How do you spell veritable?
Syllables: ver - i - ta - ble
Tricky part: The ending is able, not ible. Because that vowel is so weak, pupils often guess wrongly.
Watch out for: veritible, veritabel
Memory tip: A veritable feast fills the table, and table gives you the ending you need.
Veritable in a sentence
Example 1: The attic was a veritable museum of old toys and comic books.
Example 2: With five cousins visiting, our flat became a veritable hostel.
Example 3: Her notebook is a veritable treasure chest of story ideas.
Fun Fact
It comes from the Latin word for truth, and once simply described facts and statements. Today people mostly use it for playful exaggeration, as when a few mango trees become a forest.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
v_r_table
a) a, i
b) e, i
c) e, e
d) i, i
Show answer
b) e, i. It starts like very and carries a light i in the next beat.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
By the end of the monsoon, the abandoned plot behind our building had become a verritable forest of tall grass, creepers and wild banana plants.
a) verritable
b) abandoned
c) creepers
d) monsoon
Show answer
a) verritable. Very has one r, and this word is the same.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word veritable as used in the sentence:
After the rains, our small terrace garden became a veritable jungle of vines and ferns.
a) modest
b) distant
c) recent
d) absolute
Show answer
d) absolute. The writer means a jungle in every sense, and absolute carries that force.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. thoroughley 2. authantic 3. veritable 4. genuwine
a) truly what it claims to be, not a copy
b) known to be real and not false
c) fully earning the grand name you give it
d) completely and with great care
Show answer
c) fully earning the grand name you give it. Genuine has no w, authentic has en, and thoroughly has no e before ly.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A teacher calls a pupil's project a veritable encyclopedia. What is she saying?
a) It was copied out of a book.
b) It needs a new cover soon.
c) It holds a great deal of knowledge.
d) It is rather thin and dull.
Show answer
c) It holds a great deal of knowledge.
2. Which sentence uses veritable correctly?
a) The veritable was lying on the table.
b) She veritable ran to the school gate.
c) The market was a veritable treasure house of old books.
d) He spoke very veritable to all of us.
Show answer
c) The market was a veritable treasure house of old books.
