assure

American  

[uh-shoor, uh-shur] / əˈʃʊər, əˈʃɜr /

verb (used with object)

• assures,
  present (3rd person singular)
• assured,
  past participle,  past
• assuring
  present participle

1. to declare earnestly to; inform or tell positively; state with confidence to.

   She assured us that everything would turn out all right.

2. to cause to know surely; reassure.

   He assured himself that no one was left on the bus.

3. to pledge or promise; give surety of; guarantee.

   He was assured a job in the spring.

4. to make (a future event) sure; ensure.

   This contract assures the company's profit this month.

5. to secure or confirm; render safe or stable.

   to assure a person's position.

6. to give confidence to; encourage.

7. Chiefly British. to insure, as against loss.

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assure British  

/ əˈʃʊə /

verb

1. to cause to feel sure or certain; convince

   to assure a person of one's love

2. to promise; guarantee

   he assured us that he would come

3. to state positively or with assurance

4. to make (an event) certain; ensure

5. to insure against loss, esp of life

6. property law another word for convey

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Usage

What's the difference between assure, ensure, and insure? Assure usually means to tell someone something with confidence or to cause someone to know something with certainty—it often means the same thing as reassure. Ensure most commonly means to guarantee or make certain, as in Working hard ensures success. Insure typically means to guarantee against loss or harm or, more specifically, to cover with insurance. It’s no wonder there’s confusion between the three words—all three are verbs that are based on the Latin root sēcūrus, meaning safe. Making things even more confusing is the fact that ensure and insure can be used interchangeably in most senses. Still, insure is much more commonly used in the context of insurance, like car insurance, health insurance, and homeowner’s insurance. These kinds of insurance insure you—they give you coverage that provides you with compensation in certain cases and situations. Ensure is typically used in a more general way in the context of actions that are done to make sure that something happens or is the case, as in We need to ensure that the meeting starts on time. Assure is always used in the context of communication, especially in situations in which someone is trying to make someone else feel better about something. It’s used in the phrase rest assured. Here’s a quick cheat sheet to remember the most common uses of each word:assure = reassureensure = make sureinsure = cover with insuranceHere’s an example of assure, ensure, and insure used correctly in a sentence. Example: She assured me that the company has ensured that every employee has the opportunity to be insured. Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between assure, ensure, and insure. 

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• assurer
  noun
• assuror
  noun
• interassure
  verb (used with object)
• preassure
  verb (used with object)
• assurable
  adjective
• unassuring
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• assuring
  present
• assured
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• assure
  simple
• assures
  simple
• have assured
  perfect
• has assured
  perfect
• am assuring
  progressive
• are assuring
  progressive
• is assuring
  progressive
• have been assuring
  perfect progressive
• has been assuring
  perfect progressive

Past

• assured
  simple
• had assured
  perfect
• was assuring
  progressive
• were assuring
  progressive
• had been assuring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will assure
  simple
• will have assured
  perfect
• will be assuring
  progressive
• will have been assuring
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of assure

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English as(e)uren, assuren, from Old French aseurer, from Late Latin assēcūrāre, from Latin as- as- + sēcūr(us) ( see secure) + -āre, infinitive suffix

Explanation

If you assure your boss that you’ll finish your project by Tuesday, you are making a promise or commitment to have it done by Tuesday. The verbs insure and ensure look and sound like assure but they aren't synonyms. There is some overlap in meaning — all of them can mean “to make secure or certain” — but assure is generally used in situations when you are referring to a person: “I assure you that I haven’t forgotten about driving you to the airport,” or “He called his mother to assure her that everything will be fine.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

assure assures assured assuring

I appreciate that your goal is to help others, and assure parents who are going through something similar that it does, indeed, get better.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026

Local officials have tried to assure residents that they are dealing with a major player in AI, not a fly-by-night operator.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

But the Hisbah officer wanted to assure all those wishing to wed in future that the entire process should not cost them a single naira.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

There is a particular brand of confidence required to assure party leaders and voters that one has no more skeletons in one’s closet, as Platner did before several more disquieting allegations emerged.

From Slate ● Aug. 1, 2026

“Tell her he’s gone on a trip, if you have to keep them apart. But as her doctor, I assure you: She will not survive another shock like that.”

From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood

And for 86 minutes, it assures us that some of the greatest cinematic treasures are also blissfully conflict-free.

From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026

It assures him of direct entry into the sport's biggest tournaments for the foreseeable future.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

Galindo assures potential clients, “I’m supportive of all identities and relationship styles so long as they honor the safety of the self & others, physically, emotionally, and otherwise <3.”

From Slate ● May 22, 2026

Luis Cardona, the Colombian visitor, has no plans to hit the slopes but assures that, virus or no virus, he would "have no problem returning" to Ushuaia.

From Barron's ● May 12, 2026

Triumphant music that assures you MacGyver will always win in the end.

From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau

With “Alien” and “Blade Runner” just around the corner, it’s easy to overlook Scott’s astonishingly assured feature debut, which won him the prize for best first film at Cannes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

England could have wobbled, only for Cox to show good temperament for his unbeaten 23, while Root was typically assured for his 37.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

Flynn said he had been assured that the reduced workforce would not affect the building of the MV Glen Rosa.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

Rest assured, the next generation of Amazons will go public after they get interesting.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

No, there would be no membership dues for the boy, Nigro assured Regina.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

The street has become such a maze that it’s unclear what’s even there, resulting in a series of “Businesses Open” signs assuring the public that something still exists inside the chain-link exoskeleton.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Some in the real-estate industry encouraged aspiring buyers to “date the rate, marry the house,” assuring them that they could refinance when rates dropped.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026

Yet the administration abandoned its review of the shootings before explaining what had gone wrong — or assuring the public that anything would change.

From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026

"That thing can be stopped," Tedros said on his arrival Thursday after assuring the Congolese people earlier in a message on X: "I want you to know that you are not alone."

From Barron's ● May 29, 2026

Reverend Salles keeps Theo informed, assuring him that his brother is getting good care.

From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman

Related Words

• confirm
• ensure
• guarantee
• insure
• secure