Vehemently — A Vocabulary Story
The Boat Vote
Mamadou had made up his mind, and when Mamadou made up his mind, his whole body joined in.
"The river boat," he said. "Please. The river boat."
His mum, Aminata, was looking at the Saturday list on the fridge. "Or the shoe shop," she said. "Your trainers have a hole."
Mamadou shook his head so vehemently that his hat fell off. "The hole is tiny," he said. "A boat is huge. Huge wins."
Vehemently means in a forceful, passionate way that shows strong feeling. It can also mean with great energy or force, like shaking your head hard.
His little sister Fatou looked up from her colouring. "I want the ducks," she said.
"The river has ducks," Mamadou said, pointing at the window as if the river were right there. "The shoe shop has shoes. Shoes do not quack."
Aminata tried not to smile. "The last time you argued this vehemently," she said, "it was about broccoli."
"And I was right about broccoli," said Mamadou.
"You were not right about broccoli."
They walked to the river anyway. The boat was blue and white and moved slowly past the old mill, and the man who steered it wore a yellow hat and waved at everyone. Fatou counted ducks, and when she reached fourteen she gave up and just waved back.
On the way home, Aminata stopped outside the shoe shop. Mamadou looked at his trainers. He looked at the hole. He wriggled his toe through it.
"Fine," he said. "Shoes. But I still vote boat next week."
Fatou nodded vehemently, which made her bunches bounce, and Aminata laughed and held the door open for both of them.
Word Definition
vehemently
meaning
in a forceful, passionate way that shows strong feeling; with great physical energy or force
synonyms
passionately · forcefully · fiercely · intensely · strongly
antonyms
mildly · calmly
example sentence
She vehemently denied breaking the vase.