Link Centre Dictionary

sure

UK/ʃɔː/ US/ʃʊə/ very common
adjective (9) adverb (1)

adjective

1.

having or feeling no doubt or uncertainty; confident and assured

  • “felt certain of success”
  • “was sure (or certain) she had seen it”
  • “was very sure in his beliefs”
  • “sure of her friends”
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2.

exercising or taking care great enough to bring assurance

  • “be certain to disconnect the iron when you are through”
  • “be sure to lock the doors”
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3.

certain to occur; destined or inevitable

  • “he was certain to fail”
  • “his fate is certain”
  • “In this life nothing is certain but death and taxes” Benjamin Franklin
  • “he faced certain death”
  • “sudden but sure regret”
  • “he is sure to win”
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4.

physically secure or dependable

  • “a sure footing”
  • “was on sure ground”
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5.

capable of being depended on

  • “a quick and certain remedy”
  • “a sure way to distinguish the two”
  • “wood dust is a sure sign of termites”
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6.

(of persons) worthy of trust or confidence

  • “a sure (or trusted) friend”
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7.

infallible or unfailing

  • “a sure (or true) sign of one”
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8.

certain not to fail

  • “a sure hand on the throttle”
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9.

impossible to doubt or dispute

  • “indisputable (or sure) proof”
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adverb

1.

definitely or positively (`sure'' is sometimes used informally for `surely'')

  • “the results are surely encouraging”
  • “she certainly is a hard worker”
  • “it”
  • “;”
  • “;”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English sure, seur, sur, from Middle French sur or Old French seür, from Latin sēcūrus (“secure”, literally “carefree”), from sē- (“apart”) + cūra (“care”) (compare Old English orsorg (“carefree”), from or- (“without”) + sorg (“care”)). See cure. Doublet of secure and the now obsolete or dialectal sicker (“certain, safe”). Displaced native Middle English wis, iwis (“certain, sure”) (from Old English ġewis, ġewiss (“certain, sure”)), as well as Middle English siker (“sure, secure”) (from Old English sicor (“secure, sure”)) with which it was cognate.

Phrases

  • are you sure you're sure
  • as sure as eggs are eggs
  • as sure as eggs is eggs
  • damn sure
  • for sure
  • I'm sure
  • make sure
  • slow but sure wins the race

Related words

Word family

See also

Pertaining to

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.