certitude
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of certitude
1375–1425; late Middle English < Late Latin certitūdō, equivalent to Latin certi- (combining form of certus sure; see certain) + -tūdō -tude
Explanation
If you're absolutely convinced your team is going to the Super Bowl, you state it with certitude or confidence. Your team didn't make it? Oh dear, you were guilty of certitude — an absolute conviction that the outcome of the game did not support. In other words, you were a tad cocky. Certitude is very similar to certainty, and often used interchangeably, but there's a hint of danger about certitude; someone who displays it may well be overconfident. Certainty is more certain.
Vocabulary lists containing certitude
The Call of the Wild
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Novel Study: Fahrenheit 451, Part II
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"Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Hilda witnesses the crime and is so distraught that her moral certitude temporarily deserts her.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026
America, you’re a big, boisterous nation of more than 342 million people, with all sorts of competing impulses and interests, and no end of certitude to go around.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2025
The lack of any enforcement mechanism means that there is no authoritative body to provide a definitive judgment, and no one has any legitimate claim to certitude.
From Slate ● Dec. 5, 2024
A conductor known for his intense warmth in general and his rendition of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth in particular, Honeck brought the comfort of certitude to works composed in the shadow of doubt.
From New York Times ● Apr. 14, 2024
Well, that combined with their kindness/goodness/purity of heart and garnished with my certitude that this glorious triad I somehow finagled my way into is definitely, definitely temporary.
From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
