certainty

[sur-tn-tee]

noun

plural

certainties 

1. the state of being certain.

   Synonyms: confidence, assurance, certitude

2. something certain; an assured fact.

   Synonyms: truth

certainty

/ ˈsɜːtəntɪ /

noun

1. the condition of being certain

2. something established as certain or inevitable

3. without doubt

Other Word Forms

• noncertainty noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of certainty¹

1250–1300; Middle English certeinte < Anglo-French, equivalent to certein certain + -te -ty ²

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. for / of a certainty, certainly; without a doubt.

   I suspect it, but I don't know it for a certainty.

Synonym Study

See belief.

Example Sentences

“Now that the end of QT is guaranteed, we have certainty.”

Read more on MarketWatch

All this should point you toward an inescapable but often overlooked fact: Stocks are likely to be the best-performing asset, but even a high likelihood isn’t the same thing as certainty.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The administration is doing what has to be done to give U.S. miners and their investors long-term certainty.

Read more on MarketWatch

Advocates warned of a tidal wave of need as home pantries and CalFresh cards run empty — which they said is no longer a risk but a certainty.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Investors are pricing in the near certainty of a Federal Reserve rate cut when a two-day meeting of the central bank’s policy board winds up on Wednesday.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• confidence 
• inevitability www.thesaurus.com
• trust