veritable
veritable Lexical Profile
veritable Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Used as an intensifier to qualify a metaphor or emphasize that a comparison, though figurative, is aptly chosen and not exaggerated.
"The archive's basement proved to be a veritable treasure trove of unpublishednineteenth-century correspondence."
Being truly or genuinely so; real or authentic rather than counterfeit or imaginary.
"Early cartographers debated whether the distant landmass was a veritable continent or merely a chain of icebound islands."
Word Nuance & Usage
"Veritable" is used strictly attributively (directly before a noun) and is almost exclusively employed as an emphatic intensifier before a metaphorical noun phrase (e.g., "a veritable feast"), rather than to state literal factual accuracy.
• Rhymes for veritable
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 15th century from Old French veritable ("true, truthful, genuine"), derived from verite ("truth"), which traces back to Latin veritas, from verus ("true").