Here you’ll find 61 Big words that start with V, organized from “Vacillate” to “Vulnerable”. They are largely polysyllabic and high-register, useful in essays, speeches, and creative writing.
Big words that start with V are established, polysyllabic terms often drawn from Latin or French roots. Many entered English during scholarly and Neoclassical revivals, especially in law and science.
Below you’ll find the table with Word, Etymology, and Definition.
Word: Shows the vocabulary entry in alphabetical order so you can spot and copy the term quickly.
Etymology: Gives the word’s origin and root morphemes, helping you understand its history and related words.
Definition: Provides a concise, one-sentence meaning so you can use the word accurately in writing or speech.
Big words that start with V
| Word | Part of speech | Syllables | Etymology |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vacillate | verb | 3 (9) | Latin vacillare ‘to waver’, Late Latin |
| Vacillation | noun | 4 (11) | Latin vacillation-, from vacillare, Late Latin |
| Vacuous | adjective | 3 (7) | Latin vacuus ’empty’, Classical Latin |
| Vacuity | noun | 4 (7) | Latin vacuitas ’emptiness’, Classical Latin |
| Vagary | noun | 3 (6) | Latin vagari ‘to wander’, Late Latin |
| Valedictory | adjective | 5 (11) | Latin vale dicere ‘to say farewell’, Medieval Latin |
| Valetudinarian | noun | 6 (13) | Latin valetudinarianus, from valetudo ‘health’, Classical/Medieval |
| Valorization | noun | 5 (12) | French/Latin valor ‘value’ + -ization, 19th century |
| Veneration | noun | 4 (10) | Latin veneratio, from venerari ‘to revere’, Classical Latin |
| Venerate | verb | 3 (8) | Latin venerari ‘to revere’, Classical Latin |
| Venerable | adjective | 4 (9) | Latin venerabilis ‘worthy of reverence’, Classical Latin |
| Venality | noun | 4 (8) | Latin venalis ‘for sale’, Classical Latin |
| Veracity | noun | 4 (7) | Latin verax ‘truthful’ + -ity, Classical Latin |
| Veridical | adjective | 4 (8) | Latin veridicus ‘speaking truth’, Classical Latin |
| Verisimilitude | noun | 6 (13) | Latin verisimilis ‘likely’ + -itude, Late Latin |
| Verisimilar | adjective | 5 (11) | Latin verisimilis ‘likely’, Late Latin |
| Vernacularization | noun | 7 (16) | Latin vernaculus ‘native’ + -ization, modern formation |
| Vernation | noun | 3 (8) | Latin vernatio ‘springing forth’, Medieval Latin |
| Vernalization | noun | 5 (12) | French/Latin vernalis ‘of spring’ + -ization, 19th century |
| Vexillology | noun | 5 (11) | Latin vexillum ‘flag’ + Greek -logy, 19th century coinage |
| Vicarious | adjective | 4 (9) | Latin vicarius ‘substitute’, Classical Latin |
| Vicissitude | noun | 4 (11) | Latin vicis ‘change’ + -tude, Classical Latin |
| Vigilance | noun | 3 (9) | Latin vigilare ‘to be awake’, Classical Latin |
| Vigilantism | noun | 4 (11) | English vigilante + -ism, modern coinage (19th c.) |
| Vilification | noun | 5 (11) | Latin vilis ‘cheap’ + -fication, Classical/Medieval |
| Vindication | noun | 4 (10) | Latin vindicare ‘to claim or avenge’, Classical Latin |
| Vindicatory | adjective | 5 (10) | Latin vindicare ‘to vindicate’ + -ory, Classical/Medieval |
| Viscosity | noun | 4 (9) | Latin viscous ‘sticky’, Medieval Latin |
| Visceral | adjective | 3 (7) | Latin viscus ‘internal organ’, Classical Latin |
| Visionary | adjective | 4 (9) | Latin vision- ‘seeing’, Medieval Latin |
| Viticulture | noun | 4 (11) | Latin vitis ‘vine’ + cultura ‘cultivation’, Classical Latin |
| Vituperate | verb | 4 (10) | Latin vituperare ‘to blame’, Classical Latin |
| Vituperation | noun | 5 (12) | Latin vituperatio, from vituperare, Classical Latin |
| Vituperative | adjective | 5 (11) | Latin vituperare + -ive, Classical Latin |
| Vitrification | noun | 5 (12) | Latin vitrum ‘glass’ + -fication, Classical/Medieval |
| Viviparous | adjective | 4 (10) | Latin vivus ‘alive’ + parere ‘to bear’, Classical Latin |
| Vivisection | noun | 4 (11) | Latin vivus ‘alive’ + sectio ‘cutting’, 19th-century coinage |
| Vociferous | adjective | 4 (9) | Latin vociferari ‘to shout’, Classical Latin |
| Vocalization | noun | 5 (11) | Latin vocalis ‘vocal’ + -ization, Modern Latin |
| Volatility | noun | 5 (10) | Latin volatilis ‘flying’ → metaphorical ‘unstable’, Classical Latin |
| Volition | noun | 3 (8) | Latin volitio/velle ‘will’, Classical Latin |
| Volitional | adjective | 4 (10) | Latin volitional-, from volo ‘to will’, Classical Latin |
| Voluminous | adjective | 4 (9) | Latin volumen ‘roll’ → ‘volume’, Classical Latin |
| Voluptuary | noun | 5 (10) | Latin voluptas ‘pleasure’ + -ary, Classical Latin |
| Voracious | adjective | 3 (9) | Latin vorax ‘devouring’, Classical Latin |
| Voracity | noun | 4 (8) | Latin voracitas ‘greediness’, Classical Latin |
| Vorticity | noun | 4 (8) | Latin vortex ‘whirlpool’ + -ity, Classical/Modern usage |
| Vulnerable | adjective | 4 (9) | Latin vulnerare ‘to wound’, Classical Latin |
| Vulnerability | noun | 6 (12) | Latin vulnerabilis ‘able to be wounded’, Classical Latin |
| Vulcanization | noun | 5 (13) | Latin Vulcanus ‘Vulcan’ + -ization, 19th-century chemistry |
| Volcanology | noun | 5 (11) | Latin Vulcanus ‘Vulcan’ + Greek -logy, 19th–20th century |
| Vespertine | adjective | 3 (9) | Latin vespertinus ‘of the evening’, Classical Latin |
| Vaticinate | verb | 4 (10) | Latin vates ‘prophet’ + -cinate, Late Latin |
| Vaticination | noun | 5 (11) | Latin vaticinatio ‘prophecy’, Late Latin |
| Variegation | noun | 5 (11) | Latin variegare ‘to variegate’, Medieval Latin |
| Variability | noun | 6 (11) | Latin variabilis ‘changeable’, Classical Latin |
| Veridicality | noun | 6 (12) | Latin veridicus ‘truth-speaking’ + -ity, Classical Latin |
| Veritable | adjective | 4 (9) | Old French/Latin veritas ‘truth’, Medieval Latin |
| Veritably | adverb | 4 (9) | Old French/Latin veritas ‘truth’, Medieval Latin |
| Vexatious | adjective | 3 (9) | Latin vexare ‘to shake, annoy’, Classical Latin |
| Vaticinal | adjective | 4 (9) | Latin vaticinus ‘prophetic’, Classical/Medieval |
Descriptions
Vacillate
To waver in opinion or purpose; formal verb often used in analysis or literary description.
Vacillation
A wavering or indecisive fluctuation; formal noun used in psychology, rhetoric, and literary contexts.
Vacuous
Describing empty intellect or superficiality; literary and critical adjective, slightly pejorative.
Vacuity
Mental or conceptual emptiness; literary/formal noun for lack of thought or meaning.
Vagary
An unpredictable or erratic action or idea; literary word for whimsical or sudden change.
Valedictory
Conveying farewell or concluding remarks; formal adjective used of speeches or gestures.
Valetudinarian
A person overly concerned with their health; archaic/formal noun often literary in tone.
Valorization
The act of assigning or maintaining value, esp. economic policy; technical/formal in economics.
Veneration
Deep respect or reverent worship; formal/religious term.
Venerate
To regard with deep respect or worship; formal verb used in moral, religious contexts.
Venerable
Worthy of respect by virtue of dignity or age; formal and honorific usage.
Venality
Corruptibility or susceptibility to bribery; formal term in ethics and politics.
Veracity
Truthfulness or accuracy; formal noun used in epistemology and reporting.
Veridical
Truth-confirming or corresponding to reality; philosophical and psychological adjective.
Verisimilitude
The appearance of truth or realism in art and narrative; literary-critical term.
Verisimilar
Having the appearance of truth; literary and critical adjective.
Vernacularization
The process of adopting or translating into a vernacular; sociolinguistic and cultural term.
Vernation
Leaf arrangement in a bud (botany); technical botanical term.
Vernalization
Cold-induced flowering process in plants; technical botanical term.
Vexillology
The scholarly study of flags; specialized hobbyist and academic term.
Vicarious
Experienced or felt by substitution for another; literary and psychological adjective.
Vicissitude
A change of circumstances or fortune, often adverse; literary and philosophical noun.
Vigilance
Careful watchfulness against danger or error; formal usage in security and law.
Vigilantism
Unofficial enforcement of law by citizens; political/legal term with pejorative tone.
Vilification
Slanderous or defamatory speech; formal/legal term for abusive denigration.
Vindication
Clearing from blame or proving justification; formal in legal and rhetorical contexts.
Vindicatory
Serving to vindicate or justify; formal adjective in argumentation.
Viscosity
Measure of a fluid’s resistance to flow; technical physical-sciences term.
Visceral
Deep, instinctive, or inward-feeling; literary and psychological adjective.
Visionary
Ideationally imaginative or prophetic; high-register adjective for bold theorists.
Viticulture
The science and practice of grape-growing; technical agricultural term.
Vituperate
To berate or abuse verbally; literary/formal verb for harsh denunciation.
Vituperation
Bitter and abusive language; formal noun for sustained denunciation.
Vituperative
Marked by harsh denunciation; formal and strongly negative adjective.
Vitrification
Conversion into glass or glass-like substance; technical materials-science term.
Viviparous
Bearing live young (biology); technical zoological adjective.
Vivisection
Surgical experimentation on live animals; technical and ethically charged term.
Vociferous
Loudly and forcefully expressed; formal adjective used in criticism and reportage.
Vocalization
The act of producing uttered sounds; linguistic and phonetic technical term.
Volatility
Tendency to change rapidly or unpredictably; technical in finance and chemistry.
Volition
The faculty or act of willing; formal philosophical and psychological term.
Volitional
Pertaining to will or intentional choice; formal psychological adjective.
Voluminous
Very large in size or extent; literary and formal adjective often about text.
Voluptuary
One devoted to luxury and sensual pleasure; literary, slightly archaic noun.
Voracious
Having great appetite or eagerness; literary or emphatic adjective.
Voracity
Intense eagerness or appetite; formal noun for hunger literal or figurative.
Vorticity
The local spinning motion in a fluid; technical fluid-dynamics term.
Vulnerable
Open to harm or attack; formal adjective used in many disciplines.
Vulnerability
Degree to which something can be harmed; technical in risk analysis and social studies.
Vulcanization
Chemical process hardening rubber using sulfur; industrial-technical term.
Volcanology
The scientific study of volcanoes; technical Earth-science discipline.
Vespertine
Occurring in or relating to the evening; poetic and natural-history adjective.
Vaticinate
To prophesy or predict; literary and archaic verb.
Vaticination
An utterance of prophecy; rare/formal noun often literary or historical.
Variegation
The quality of having different colors or forms; botanical and decorative term.
Variability
Degree to which something varies; technical in statistics and science.
Veridicality
The property of corresponding to reality; philosophical and cognitive-science term.
Veritable
Being truly or very much so; emphatic formal adjective.
Veritably
In truth; used as an emphatic formal adverb.
Vexatious
Causing irritation or legal annoyance; formal term in law and rhetoric.
Vaticinal
Pertaining to prophecy; rare and literary adjective.