guarantee
Americannoun
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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.
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an assurance that another’s obligation will be fulfilled, or something presented as such security; guaranty.
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something that assures a particular outcome or condition.
Wealth is no guarantee of happiness.
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a person who gives a guarantee or guaranty; guarantor.
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a person to whom a guarantee is made.
verb (used with object)
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to secure, as by giving or taking security.
A credit card guarantees your reservation at the hotel.
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to make oneself answerable for (something) on behalf of someone else who is primarily responsible.
to guarantee the fulfillment of a contract.
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to undertake to ensure for another, as rights or possessions.
The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion.
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to serve as a warrant or guaranty for.
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to undertake to protect or indemnify.
to guarantee a person against loss.
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to undertake (to do something).
I will guarantee to prove every word I stated.
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to promise (usually followed by a clause as object).
I guarantee that I'll be there.
noun
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a formal assurance, esp in writing, that a product, service, etc, will meet certain standards or specifications
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law a promise, esp a collateral agreement, to answer for the debt, default, or miscarriage of another
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a person, company, etc, to whom a guarantee is made
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a person, company, etc, who gives a guarantee
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a person who acts as a guarantor
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something that makes a specified condition or outcome certain
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a variant spelling of guaranty
verb
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(also tr) to take responsibility for (someone else's debts, obligations, etc)
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to serve as a guarantee for
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to secure or furnish security for
a small deposit will guarantee any dress
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to undertake to protect or keep secure, as against injury, loss, etc
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to ensure
good planning will guarantee success
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(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
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nonguaranteenoun
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preguaranteenoun
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reguaranteenoun
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superguaranteenoun
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quasi-guaranteedadjective
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unguaranteedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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guaranteesimple
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guaranteessimple
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have guaranteedperfect
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has guaranteedperfect
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am guaranteeingprogressive
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are guaranteeingprogressive
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is guaranteeingprogressive
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have been guaranteeingperfect progressive
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has been guaranteeingperfect progressive
Past
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guaranteedsimple
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had guaranteedperfect
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was guaranteeingprogressive
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were guaranteeingprogressive
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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)
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Frindle
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"The Constitution"
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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.
See Examples For:
For both the Beignet and Sopaipilla bonds, Meta provided a so-called residual-value guarantee that makes bondholders whole if Meta opted not to renew its lease or terminate it early.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
It is Exhibit A. A guarantee that demands this much luck, money, and endurance before a court will enforce it has not been functioning as a guarantee.
From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026
It’s going to take a few weeks to get a resolution, and there’s no guarantee that anything will change, but I’m glad I went hunting for answers.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Lots of people might opt for the £50,000 guarantee, deciding that it is a life-changing amount of money in itself.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
He told them that they were Germany’s precious guarantee for a great future, that they were destined to lead the country.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
These parents read the new constitutional guarantees of freedom for themselves, and demanded they be enforced, long before any Supreme Court told them what those words meant.
From Slate ● Jul. 25, 2026
There are no guarantees Robinhood and Crypto.com ultimately will reach a deal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Burnham spoke to reporters in Bath, it says, telling them he was making no guarantees but wanted to assure himself that "everything has been looked at before this policy proceeds".
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
And there are no guarantees the states won’t be forced to take more dramatic action within the next two years, Marcus said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
When Steve Eisman stumbled into this new, rapidly growing industry of specialty finance, the mortgage bond was about to be put to a new use: making loans that did not qualify for government guarantees.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
There were some legitimate failures here: The federal government had guaranteed $535 million in loans to the company, leaving taxpayers on the hook for a significant chunk of change.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
Women voted 82% in favour of the guaranteed cash.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Even as Peyton Manning agreed to a reduced deal for his last season in Denver, he still took home a guaranteed $15 million.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
“They will pick control, wanting ‘confirmed’ or guaranteed money versus the idea of money that’s only 50% possible.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
It was preordained, a bulletproof future they’d tricked themselves into believing was guaranteed to them.
From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss
"To guarantee freedom of navigation, one had to start by guaranteeing freedom of passage through the straits," Domergue said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
Activists say they applaud foreign exhibitions of heritage treasures — as long as laws guaranteeing their return are followed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
The U.S. began its campaign with a bang and now sits just one victory from all but guaranteeing a place in the knockout rounds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
OpenAI just took a step closer to going public, potentially setting up 2026 to be a record-breaking year for IPOs — though the company isn’t guaranteeing it’ll conduct an offering anytime soon.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 8, 2026
His competitors soon had their own rolling machines—although Duke had worked out a special arrangement with the machine's makers guaranteeing him a rate 25 percent under the best price charged any other manufacturer.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
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.
