How to Use verve in a Sentence

verve

noun
  • She played with skill and verve.
  • Leo is a fire sign with a verve for life.
    — Sophie Flaxman, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Apr. 2026
  • Don Coryell would’ve liked their verve.
    — Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Oct. 2025
  • Its script is junk—but junk brought to the screen with verve.
    — Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 17 May 2021
  • The team has moved the ball, crisply and with verve, the entire way.
    — Bruce Jenkins, SFChronicle.com, 7 Mar. 2020
  • The performers took the mic to speak their truths with verve and spark and flow.
    — Mark Gozonsky, Los Angeles Times, 19 Dec. 2023
  • People of that age are not going to have the verve or the vigour to make a lot of noise.
    — Simon Johnson, The Athletic, 23 Feb. 2025
  • But this in-your-face modern tragedy has something to say and says it with verve and style.
    — Matthew J. Palm, Orlando Sentinel, 24 Apr. 2023
  • But what really makes this show stand out four years later is its verve.
    — Nicole Phelps, Vogue, 24 Jan. 2018
  • There’s even a little flip edge at the top of the hatchback for extra verve.
    — Hannah Elliott, Bloomberg.com, 2 May 2017
  • Yet over the past two games, Louisville played with verve and confidence.
    — Jeff Greer, The Courier-Journal, 19 Mar. 2018
  • Rising in the kitchen was about chutzpah, drive, verve and vision.
    — Marc Myers, WSJ, 8 Dec. 2020
  • Hainline served those around her in verve, in getting started over and over again.
    — Courtney Crowder, USA TODAY, 24 Mar. 2025
  • But too much of this plays rather rotely, without the verve the film keeps promising.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 12 Jan. 2023
  • And Jordan, in his own quiet away, agrees, if not with quite the same verve.
    — Dugan Arnett, BostonGlobe.com, 6 July 2019
  • Bora gives her translations such bite and verve.
    — Diana Arterian october 2, Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2025
  • Guy sang with typical verve and gusto.
    — George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 June 2026
  • This section has a narrative verve that the other parts of the book lack.
    — Washington Post, 19 Nov. 2021
  • The sounds of fall have gone silent — the pompom verve of the cheerleaders, the brassy pep of the band.
    — Jeré Longman, New York Times, 22 Oct. 2020
  • But this side has none of the same verve after key players were sold in the offseason.
    — USA TODAY, 17 Oct. 2017
  • The canvas had wit, verve, and precision.
    — Mark Rozzo, Vanity Fair, 12 June 2026
  • Even the songs that seem slower on record here had a verve and energy that made the music pop.
    — Britt Julious, Chicago Tribune, 19 July 2023
  • The filmmaking, too, wants for a bit of anarchy, or at least some itchy verve.
    — Guy Lodge, Variety, 5 Oct. 2022
  • In most cases, these lines are best delivered with the naiveté and verve of young people.
    — Jim Rutter, Philly.com, 6 May 2018
  • The scenes set in Jane’s classroom gleam with specificity and verve.
    — Joanne Kaufman, WSJ, 23 Apr. 2021
  • And yet there’s an unquestionable high-tech Zen verve to the space.
    — Anthony Paletta, Curbed, 2 Sep. 2025
  • Overall, the four young stars have great chemistry and give the adaptation verve and life.
    — Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 11 May 2018
  • Chunky heel loafers bedecked with gold hardware are a polished way to dress with verve at the office.
    — Alison Syrett Cleary, InStyle, 14 Mar. 2026
  • This is the verve and that innate élan that says Never give up; face that giant head-on.
    — Jedidiah Alex Koh, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2022
  • Here was a postmodern love song dished out with attitude and verve by a band that seemed to come out of nowhere.
    — Greg Kot, chicagotribune.com, 22 Feb. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'verve.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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