
vacancy | vacancy: n. 1 emptiness, void, gap, lacuna, hiatus, blank, deficiency, opening, breach, vacuum: Only after she left did Hubert sense the vacancy in his life. 2 (job) opening, slot, position, post, situation: Her promotion created a vacancy in the personnel department. 3 blankness, emptiness, vacuity, absent-mindedness, inanity, vacuousness, incomprehension, fatuity, unawareness: I knew by the vacancy of his look that he hadn''t any idea of what I was talking about.
vacant | vacant: adj. 1 empty, void, hollow, unoccupied, untenanted, uninhabited, abandoned, deserted: The house remained vacant all summer. 2 blank, expressionless, deadpan, empty, vacuous, dull, absent-minded, inane, uncomprehending, fatuous, unaware: After the accident, she would just sit, for hours on end, with a vacant look on her face. 3 unoccupied, free, unused, unutilized, spare, extra, idle, unfilled, unengaged, unspoken for: The doctor has a vacant hour tomorrow at ten and could see you then.
vacate | vacate: v. 1 leave, depart (from), withdraw from, quit, evacuate, get or go out of; desert, abandon: In a fire drill, employees must vacate the building in five minutes. 2 give up, relinquish, sacrifice, renounce, let go, resign, abdicate, cede, give up right or claim to, abandon: We vacated all claims to my aunt''s property. 3 annul, declare null and void, nullify, void, repudiate, override, overrule, rescind, revoke, recall, quash, set aside, invalidate: The judge vacated the defendant''s plea of diminished capacity.
vade-mecum | vade-mecum: n. handbook, manual, ready reference, book, guide: She always had with her a vade-mecum on rare poisons.
vagabond | vagabond: n. 1 gypsy, tramp, vagrant, wayfarer, rover, wanderer, itinerant, migrant, bird of passage, rolling stone, beachcomber, derelict, Chiefly US and Canadian hobo, Australian swagman, Colloq US bum, Slang US bindle-stiff: The police interviewed every vagabond they could find for a clue to the murder. --adj. 2 vagrant, wayfaring, roving, wandering, itinerant, migrant, derelict, nomadic, gypsy, rambling, roaming, drifting, peripatetic, transient, peregrinating: When will he give up his vagabond ways and settle down?
vague | vague: adj. 1 indefinite, indistinct, imprecise, inexact, unclear, confused, unspecified or non-specified, general, generalized, unspecific or non-specific, inexplicit or unexplicit, ill-defined, hazy, fuzzy, ambiguous, obscure, amorphous; shapeless, blurred, blurry, filmy, dim, shadowy, veiled, bleary, foggy, misty, cloudy, clouded, hardly or barely distinguishable or discernible: I have only a vague recollection of our having met. She must have had a vague idea of your intentions. Leon could almost make out the vague shape of an approaching figure. 2 undetermined, indeterminate, unfixed, indefinite, inexact, unspecified or non-specified, unspecific or non-specific, ambiguous, doubtful, in doubt, uncertain, equivocal, ambiguous: For security reasons, her time of arrival was left vague. 3 veiled, concealed, hidden, shrouded, obscure, ill-defined, unspecific or non-specific, inexplicit or unexplicit, ambiguous: There had been a vague threat of kidnapping, which should not have been ignored. 4 subliminal, subconscious, indefinable, unexplained: I had a vague sensation of being followed. 5 indefinite, ambiguous, wishy-washy, undecided, indecisive, irresolute, vacillating, wavering, inconstant, unsettled, uncertain, nebulous, up in the air: Leonore is vague about her plans to run for re-election. 6 vacant, empty, blank, expressionless, empty, vacuous, dull; puzzled: By their vague expressions I could see they hadn''t understood a word.
vaguely | vaguely: adv. 1 distantly, remotely, indefinitely, dimly, subliminally, subconsciously, inexplicably: I became vaguely aware of another presence in the room. 2 ambiguously, imprecisely, inexactly, unclearly, confusedly, confusingly, hazily, fuzzily, nebulously, obscurely: Kenston claims that he expresses his theories vaguely to allow for broad interpretation. 3 idly, vacantly, detachedly, absent-mindedly, dreamily, absently, distractedly: Manton listened only vaguely to the judge''s words.
vain | vain: adj. 1 proud, conceited, haughty, arrogant, boastful, egotistical, cocky, self-important, vainglorious, narcissistic, Colloq big-headed, swell-headed, stuck-up, swollen-headed: They are so vain that they have mirrors in every room. 2 worthless, profitless, bootless, pointless, unsuccessful, empty, futile, useless, unavailing, unproductive, fruitless, ineffective, abortive: Peter sent Carol flowers every day in a vain attempt to win her back. 3 in vain. a vainly, futilely, unsuccessfully, fruitlessly, bootlessly: In vain, we sought the help of the police. b irreverently, blasphemously, disrespectfully, improperly: Despite his mother''s admonitions, he continues to take the Lord''s name in vain.
valley | valley: n. glen, dale, dell, vale, dingle, hollow, coomb or coombe or combe or comb, No. Brit and Welsh cirque or corrie or cwm, Scots strath: Oh, to stroll once again the cool valleys and the heathered hills of home!
vanity | vanity: n. 1 conceit, conceitedness, egotism, narcissism, arrogance, cockiness, self-importance, vainglory, haughtiness, pride, self-admiration, self-worship, Colloq swell-headedness, big-headedness: It is disgraceful what some people do to satisfy their vanity. 2 vainness, emptiness, hollowness, worthlessness, futility, unreality, bootlessness, pointlessness, uselessness, folly, vapidity, silliness, vacuousness, vacuity, foolishness, fatuity, frivolousness: The vanity of trying to complete the book in a year must be obvious by now.
vapid | vapid: adj. insipid, flavourless, tasteless, bland, watery, watered down, wishy-washy, jejune, colourless, unpalatable, flat, tame, lifeless, boring, tedious, tiresome, uninteresting, trite, wearisome, wearying, humdrum, Colloq blah, ho-hum: The minister attacked green politics as vapid romanticism.
vapour | vapour: n. 1 mist, fog, steam, cloud, smoke, smog, exhalation: There arose from the bog a suffocating, miasmic vapour. 2 the vapours. morbidity, hypochondria, hysteria, nervousness, depression, rheuminess, Archaic distemper, Colloq the pip: Charlotte suffered an attack of the vapours and retired to her room.
variable | variable: adj. changeable, protean, changing, inconstant, varying, wavering, mercurial, fickle, capricious, unsteady, unfixed, unstable, uncertain, undependable, unpredictable, fluctuating, vacillating, mutable, chameleonic, chameleon-like: The weather can be quite variable depending on the season.
variance | variance: n. 1 variation, difference, disparity, discrepancy, disagreement, deviation, inconsistency, divergence, incongruity: The monitor takes account of minute variance in blood pressure. 2 disagreement, misunderstanding, discord, difference (of opinion), dissension, contention, dispute, dissent, controversy, quarrel, conflict, argument, debate, lack of harmony, falling out, schism, rift: There has never been any variance between us about the disciplining of the children. 3 at variance. in dispute, in disagreement, quarrelling, in contention, in conflict: The workforce was at variance with management in the matter of day care.
variant | variant: n. 1 alternative, modification, variation: ''Labor'' is an American spelling variant of ''labour''. --adj. 2 varying, variable, changing, altering, unstable, deviant, deviating, different, differing; separate, distinct: It is claimed that the law is given variant interpretations depending on the social standing of the suspect.
variation | variation: n. 1 change, changing, alteration, altering, variety, varying, modification, modifying, difference, differing, diversification, diversity, diversifying, modulation, modulating, conversion, converting, permutation, permuting: We have to allow for variation in the intensity of the light. 2 variety, choice, novelty, diversity, departure (from the norm or usual), change of pace, divergence, variegation, deviation (from the norm): This restaurant offers considerable variation in its menu.
varied | varied: adj. 1 diverse, diversified, mixed, miscellaneous, assorted, heterogeneous: An insufficiently varied diet may lead to malnutrition. 2 See various, below 3 See variegated, below.
variegated | variegated: adj. multicolour(ed), particolour(ed), varicoloured, many-coloured, motley, pied, piebald, brindled, mottled, polychrome, polychromatic; nacreous, changeant, opalescent, opaline: Plants with variegated foliage always add interest to a garden.
variety | variety: n. 1 diversity, diversification, multifariousness, multiplicity, number, range, assortment, medley, mixture, mix, miscellany, heterogeneity, choice, selection, collection: Don''t you find that the variety of foods in supermarkets today is astonishing? There was certainly a wide variety of people at their party. 2 difference, heterogeneity, discrepancy, diversity, disparity, variation, contrast: The flora and fauna of Australia display great variety. 3 sort, brand, make, mark, kind, class, category, breed, type, order, genre, species, genus, classification, strain: Which variety of washing powder do you prefer? Rex cultivated only the rarest varieties of orchid.
various | various: adj. 1 different, a number of, a variety of, diversified, diverse, several, many, numerous, sundry, heterogeneous, miscellaneous, Literary divers: We are considering various offers for the painting. Catherine held various executive positions in the company. 2 different, distinct, individual: There are various ways of looking at the problem.
vary | vary: v. 1 change, alter, diversify, transform, reshape, remodel, restyle, modify, reorganize: We vary the programme each month to make it more interesting. 2 change, switch, alternate, fluctuate, vacillate: The manager''s attitude varies from helpful to downright rude. 3 depart, deviate, differ, diverge, shift, veer: These results do not vary from the average by more than five per cent.
vast | vast: adj. infinite, unlimited, boundless, limitless, unbounded, interminable, endless, never-ending, inexhaustible, indeterminate, immeasurable, incalculable, measureless; immense, enormous, huge, tremendous, great, prodigious, stupendous, gigantic, massive, voluminous, capacious, colossal, monumental, mammoth, jumbo, elephantine, behemoth, Cyclopean, Brobdingnagian, titanic, Literary vasty, Colloq ginormous, humongous: It is difficult to comprehend the vast distances of space. There is a vast difference between the climates of California and the Midwest.
vastly | vastly: adv. immensely, greatly, hugely, enormously, considerably, substantially, (almost) entirely, infinitely, exceedingly, extremely, very much, Colloq worlds: Their new house was vastly different from the way I had pictured it. Katy looks vastly better since she lost two stone.
