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Added 9 October 2026

sure

/ʃɔː/ adjective

In Latin: certus Wiktionary

adjective Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about sure at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Having or feeling no doubt or uncertainty; confident and assured.
felt certain of success
Exercising or taking care great enough to bring assurance.
be certain to disconnect the iron when you are through
Certain to occur; destined or inevitable.
he was certain to fail

adverb

Definitely or positively (`sure' is sometimes used informally for `surely').
the results are surely encouraging

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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