guarantee
Americannoun
-
guarantees
plural
-
a promise or assurance, especially one in writing, that something is of specified quality, content, benefit, etc., or that it will perform satisfactorily for a given length of time.
a money-back guarantee.
-
an assurance that another’s obligation will be fulfilled, or something presented as such security; guaranty.
-
something that assures a particular outcome or condition.
Wealth is no guarantee of happiness.
-
a person who gives a guarantee or guaranty; guarantor.
-
a person to whom a guarantee is made.
verb (used with object)
-
guarantees,
present (3rd person singular)
-
guaranteed,
past participle, past
-
guaranteeing
present participle
-
to secure, as by giving or taking security.
A credit card guarantees your reservation at the hotel.
-
to make oneself answerable for (something) on behalf of someone else who is primarily responsible.
to guarantee the fulfillment of a contract.
-
to undertake to ensure for another, as rights or possessions.
The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion.
-
to serve as a warrant or guaranty for.
-
to undertake to protect or indemnify.
to guarantee a person against loss.
-
to undertake (to do something).
I will guarantee to prove every word I stated.
-
to promise (usually followed by a clause as object).
I guarantee that I'll be there.
noun
-
a formal assurance, esp in writing, that a product, service, etc, will meet certain standards or specifications
-
law a promise, esp a collateral agreement, to answer for the debt, default, or miscarriage of another
-
-
a person, company, etc, to whom a guarantee is made
-
a person, company, etc, who gives a guarantee
-
-
a person who acts as a guarantor
-
something that makes a specified condition or outcome certain
-
a variant spelling of guaranty
verb
-
(also tr) to take responsibility for (someone else's debts, obligations, etc)
-
to serve as a guarantee for
-
to secure or furnish security for
a small deposit will guarantee any dress
-
to undertake to protect or keep secure, as against injury, loss, etc
-
to ensure
good planning will guarantee success
-
(may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to promise or make certain
Usage
What does guarantee mean? A guarantee is a promise or assurance, especially one that is written or legally binding, that something is of a stated quality or will perform as stated, such as a guarantee that a car you purchase will operate correctly. A guarantee is also an assurance of a particular outcome or condition, as in Weather predictions are not guarantees. Weather often changes quickly. To guarantee something is to secure something, as a ticket guarantees entry to a movie showing. As well, to guarantee is to promise to do something, usually by signing a legally binding agreement, as in The company guaranteed me a job when I signed the contract. Example: I guarantee you will love your purchase and will give you a full refund if you don’t.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
nonguaranteenoun
-
preguaranteenoun
-
reguaranteenoun
-
superguaranteenoun
-
quasi-guaranteedadjective
-
unguaranteedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
guaranteesimple
-
guaranteessimple
-
have guaranteedperfect
-
has guaranteedperfect
-
am guaranteeingprogressive
-
are guaranteeingprogressive
-
is guaranteeingprogressive
-
have been guaranteeingperfect progressive
-
has been guaranteeingperfect progressive
Past
-
guaranteedsimple
-
had guaranteedperfect
-
was guaranteeingprogressive
-
were guaranteeingprogressive
-
had been guaranteeingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of guarantee
First recorded in 1670–80; alteration of guaranty
Explanation
To guarantee is to promise or to a make binding agreement. If a baseball player guarantees his team will win the World Series, he better not lead the league in strikeouts. Guarantee is a word that is both a noun and a verb: the noun means "a binding agreement" and the verb is the act of making that agreement. This word seems to have come from garante, the Spanish word for "protect" and it's related to the Old French word warrant, which means "to authorize." Today, we often come across guarantee in advertisements, and you might wonder how they might guarantee to make your social life better if your teeth are whiter!
Vocabulary lists containing guarantee
Declaration of the Rights of Woman (1791)
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Frindle
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"The Constitution"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Paris has left the exact geography of its “vital interests” deliberately vague and never offered an explicit guarantee to allies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
And while past returns are no guarantee of future performance, the historical record looks solid.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 25, 2026
He said preparing for severe weather involves checking and sharpening equipment, even when there is no guarantee of being called out.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
Madrid authorities told AFP there were around 25,000 demonstrators, several of whom carried banners saying "protect and guarantee our pensions".
From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2026
Duane could see that he was losing Magic’s interest, and in all honesty, he couldn’t guarantee the last rule would be kept if his plan was to work.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
But the Transport Workers Union, which represents the drivers, said the plan did not include guarantees - including compensation - and that the workers would be "economically wiped out".
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
Last month, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil met with Orcel seeking guarantees over the bank's future.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
Housing-finance giant Fannie Mae, which guarantees about one in four mortgages in America, posted a new forecast expecting the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage to average 7.4% in the last three months of this year.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
Four months earlier, he had signed a three-year contract that included $35 million in guarantees.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
The loans carried, in effect, government guarantees; if the homeowners defaulted, the government paid off their debts.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Some songs you’re guaranteed to hear every time — Radiohead’s “Creep” and Johnny Cash’s cover of “Hurt” are staples — but some performers choose more subversive tracks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
Full-service Instacart shoppers are generally independent contractors, paid by the batch rather than a guaranteed hourly wage, with earnings varying according to the order, distance, demand and tips.
From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026
For example, Eshalomi said drivers would "now have a guaranteed minimum five minutes to decide whether to park", known as the consideration period.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
As a result of the market moves, a 65-year-old man can earn a guaranteed income for life of 8.4% on an investment, and a 65-year-old woman could see 8%.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026
“But you know what’s not guaranteed? Not one thing. Except for cages. Cages...everywhere!”
From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds
Larry Ellison is personally guaranteeing the equity needed for Paramount to buy Warner Bros.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
Congress settled that conflict decades ago by law, guaranteeing the paper’s editorial independence.
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026
It is also guaranteeing $36 billion in sales for cloud-computing companies it sells chips to, in exchange for revenue-sharing deals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Research by one Bristol food writer has raised questions about transparency, with some creators guaranteeing positive coverage in advance and offering not to make clear their review was in exchange for a free meal.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
If we could check that the candidate landing site was not covered with sifting, drifting dust, we would have at least a fair chance of guaranteeing that the winds were not intolerably high.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
