sure
pronunciation
How to pronounce sure in British English:
UK [ʃʊə(r)]
How to pronounce sure in American English:
US [ʃʊr]
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- Adjective:
- having or feeling no doubt or uncertainty; confident and assured
- exercising or taking care great enough to bring assurance
- certain to occur; destined or inevitable
- physically secure or dependable
- capable of being depended on
- (of persons) worthy of trust or confidence
- infallible or unfailing
- certain not to fail
- impossible to doubt or dispute
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- Adverb:
- definitely or positively (`sure' is sometimes used informally for `surely')
Word Origin
- sure
- sure: [14] Sure and secure are doublets – that is to say, they come from the same ultimate source, but have diverged over the centuries. Latin sēcūrus (etymologically ‘without care’) was borrowed directly into English as secure, but in Old French it evolved into sur, from which English gets sure.=> secure
- sure (adj.)
- early 13c., "safe against attack, secure," later "firm, reliable" (c. 1300); "mentally certain, confident" (mid-14c.); "firm, strong, resolute" (c. 1400), from Old French seur, sur "safe, secure; undoubted, dependable, trustworthy" (12c.), from Latin securus "free from care, untroubled, heedless, safe" (see secure (adj.)). Pronunciation development is that of sugar (n.). As an affirmative meaning "yes, certainly" it dates from 1803, from Middle English meanings "firmly established; having no doubt," and phrases like to be sure (1650s), sure enough (1540s), and for sure (1580s). The use as an adverb meaning "assuredly" goes back to early 14c. Sure-footed is from 1630s, literal and figurative; sure thing dates from 1836. In 16c.-17c., Suresby was an appellation for a person to be depended upon.
Example
- 1. Now I 'm not so sure .
- 2. They are sure to be sellable in your market .
- 3. Sure they experienced numerous obstacles and setbacks and failures .
- 4. I sure was proud to have larry as a friend .
- 5. Because law isn 't a sure thing ?