insure

American  

[in-shoor, -shur] / ɪnˈʃʊər, -ˈʃɜr /

verb (used with object)

• insures,
  present (3rd person singular)
• insured,
  past participle,  past
• insuring
  present participle

1. to guarantee against loss or harm.

   Synonyms:

   warrant

2. to secure indemnity to or on, in case of loss, damage, or death.

3. to issue or procure an insurance policy on or for.

4. ensure.

   Synonyms:

   assure

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verb (used without object)

• insures,
  present (3rd person singular)
• insured,
  past participle,  past
• insuring
  present participle

1. to issue or procure an insurance policy.

insure British  

/ ɪnˈʃʊə, -ˈʃɔː /

verb

1. (often foll by against) to guarantee or protect (against risk, loss, etc)

   we insured against disappointment by making an early reservation

2. (often foll by against) to issue (a person) with an insurance policy or take out an insurance policy (on)

   his house was heavily insured against fire

   after all his car accidents the company refuses to insure him again

3. another word (esp US) for ensure ensure

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Usage

What's the difference between insure, ensure, and assure? Insure typically means to guarantee against loss or harm or, more specifically, to cover with insurance. Ensure most commonly means to guarantee or make certain, as in Working hard ensures success. 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. 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:insure = cover with insuranceensure = make sureassure = reassureHere’s an example of insure, ensure, and assure 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 insure, ensure, and assure.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• insurability
  noun
• overinsure
  verb (used with object)
• preinsure
  verb (used with object)
• insurable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• insuring
  present
• insured
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• insure
  simple
• insures
  simple
• have insured
  perfect
• has insured
  perfect
• am insuring
  progressive
• are insuring
  progressive
• is insuring
  progressive
• have been insuring
  perfect progressive
• has been insuring
  perfect progressive

Past

• insured
  simple
• had insured
  perfect
• was insuring
  progressive
• were insuring
  progressive
• had been insuring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will insure
  simple
• will have insured
  perfect
• will be insuring
  progressive
• will have been insuring
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of insure

1400–50; late Middle English; variant of ensure

Explanation

To insure is to guarantee or protect the monetary value of something with, as you might imagine, insurance. We insure, or protect, our homes and cars and other valuables against loss or damage from accidents by taking out insurance policies. To insure is to pay an insurance company regularly so that if something goes wrong, they’ll help cover the costs. Although it’s certainly reassuring to have insurance, the word insure always has a financial aspect.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

insure insures insured insuring

Oracle’s five-year credit-default-swap spread — a measure of the cost to insure the company’s debt against default— surged to a high of 219 basis points in late July.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

"It's absolutely crucial electric vehicles become cheaper to insure," insists Steve Fowler, co-founder of the car review website Carblah.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

“We should insure against the possibility of larger second-round effects until we have evidence to determine they are not materializing,” said Megan Greene, one of four MPC members who don’t work full-time for the BOE.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

Melvoin’s stated goal is to insure that all public schools in L.A. serve their students well and that charters and district-operated schools can co-exist beneficially.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026

The woman at Allstate had tried to convince him to insure his life for more than a million dollars, given that he had four children, and how much the business relied on him.

From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers

Michigan-based Hagerty Insurance, which specializes in insuring classic and enthusiast vehicles, has seen the number of 2000s Honda Civics and Toyota Corollas it insures more than double in the past three years alone.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

Department of Housing and Urban Development that insures home loans for lenders.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 12, 2025

So does the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, which insures anyone with a U.S. bank account.

From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2025

The caucus also reaffirmed a promise to maintain funding for Medi-Cal, the state’s healthcare program that insures 15 million low-income Californians and has run billions above estimates since last summer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2025

When, for instance, a large state insures its buildings, this seems a superfluous outlay of public money for the benefit of private associations.

From Principles of Political Economy, Vol. II by Wilhelm Roscher

Customers with more than one insured vehicle will receive a separate payment for each policy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

Even if your money is insured this way, it’s important to read the fine print: “FDIC pass-through insurance protects against the failure of a Program Bank, not the failure of PayPal,” the company’s website says.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026

Her home was insured and she is now being supported by Jade's mother and other family members who live close by.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

It’s crass and illegal, and yes, the cameras are insured and immediately get replaced.

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026

Weary’s father, who was a plumber, actually did collect such things, and his collection was insured for four thousand dollars.

From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut

There also has been increasing nervousness about the credit profiles of heavy-spending hyperscalers, where the cost of insuring their debt has been climbing in recent months.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

Owning one of these funds puts you in the position of insuring against a moderate-to-severe decline in stock prices.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026

The higher repair costs for EVs mean the cost of insuring the car can be even higher.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026

The cost of insuring against a CoreWeave default has dropped sharply, with spreads on the company’s five-year credit default swaps falling 23% this year as of Thursday, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026

There might be some “right” price for insuring the first losses on pools of bonds backed by pools of dubious loans, but it wasn’t one-half of 1 percent.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Related Words

• assure
• cover
• guarantee
• hedge
• safeguard
• shield
• underwrite