sure
adjEtymology
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.
Definitions
Physically secure and certain, non-failing, reliable.
- This investment is a sure thing.
- The bailiff had a sure grip on the prisoner's arm.
- 'In the end,' said Mustapha Mond, 'the Controllers realized that force was no good. The slower but infinitely surer methods of ectogenesis, Neo-Pavlovian conditioning and hypnopædia…'
Certain in one's knowledge or belief.
- The very excess of the extravagance, in fact, by suggesting to the reader continually the mere aeriality of the entire speculation, furnishes the surest means of disenchanting him from the horror which might else gather upon his feelings.
- Roy: I'm 95% sure it was him. Jen: You... you said you were 99% sure. Roy: I'm 97% sure it was him.
Certain to act or be a specified way.
- Be sure to lock the door when you leave.
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Free from danger
Free from danger; safe; secure.
- Feare not: the Forreſt is not three leagues off, / If we recouer that, we are ſure enough.
Betrothed
Betrothed; engaged to marry.
- c. 1513-1518 (probably date written, published after 1535) Thomas More, History of King Richard III The king was sure to Dame Elizabeth Lucy, and her husband before God.
- I presum'd […] [that] you had been sure, as fast as faith could bind you, man and wife.
Without doubt, certainly.
- Sure he's coming! Why wouldn't he?
- "Did you kill that bear yourself?" ―"I sure did!"
- It sure is cold out
Without fail, surely.
- Theſe are the wings ſhall make it flie as ſwift, As dooth the lightening: or the breath of heauen, And kill as ſure as it ſwiftly flies.
Yes
Yes; of course.
- "Could you tell me where the washrooms are?" "Sure, they're in the corner over there."
You're welcome
You're welcome; polite response to being thanked.
- "Thanks for helping me with that electrical fault." "Sure. Any time."
The neighborhood
Derived
are you sure you're sure, as sure as eggs are eggs, as sure as eggs is eggs, cock-sure, cocksure, damn sure, footsure, for sure, I'm sure, make sure, oversure, self-sure, slow but sure wins the race, snowsure, sure as a gun, sure as death, sure as death and taxes, sure as eggs, sure as eggs are eggs, sure as eggs is eggs, sure as fate, sure as hell, sure as shit, sure as shooting, sure as sugar, sure as taxes, sure as the sun is going to come up tomorrow, sure as the sun is going to come up tomorrow morning, sure as the sun is going to rise tomorrow, sure as the sun is going to rise tomorrow morning, sure as the world, sureball, sure bet, sure-enough, sure enough, sure-fire, surefooted, sure-footed, sure-footedness, sure hand at the tiller · +14 more
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at sure. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at sure. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
8 hops · closes at sure
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA