safe
Americanadjective
-
safer,
comparative
-
safest
superlative
-
secure from liability to harm, injury, danger, or risk.
a safe place.
- Synonyms:
- guarded, invulnerable
-
free from hurt, injury, danger, or risk.
to arrive safe and sound.
-
involving little or no risk of mishap, error, etc..
a safe estimate.
-
dependable or trustworthy.
a safe guide.
-
careful to avoid danger or controversy.
a safe player; a safe play.
-
denied the chance to do harm; in secure custody.
a criminal safe in jail.
-
Baseball.
-
reaching base without being put out.
safe on the throw to first base.
-
making it possible to reach a base.
a safe slide.
-
adverb
noun
-
safes
plural
-
a steel or iron box or repository for money, jewels, papers, etc.
- Synonyms:
- safe-deposit box, chest, coffer, strongbox
-
any receptacle or structure for the storage or preservation of articles.
a meat safe.
-
(in plumbing)
-
a pan for catching leakage.
-
-
Slang. a condom.
idioms
adjective
-
affording security or protection from harm
a safe place
-
(postpositive) free from danger
you'll be safe here
-
secure from risk; certain; sound
a safe investment
a safe bet
-
worthy of trust; prudent
a safe companion
-
tending to avoid controversy or risk
a safe player
-
unable to do harm; not dangerous
a criminal safe behind bars
water safe to drink
-
informal excellent
-
as a precaution
adverb
-
in a safe condition
the children are safe in bed now
-
to act in a way least likely to cause danger, controversy, or defeat
noun
-
a strong container, usually of metal and provided with a secure lock, for storing money or valuables
-
a small ventilated cupboard-like container for storing food
-
a slang word for condom
Usage
What is a basic definition of safe? Safe describes something that is secure from harm or danger. Safe can also refer to something that is free from danger and is not risky. Safe is a secure object that is used to keep valuables in. Safe has several other senses as an adjective, noun, and adverb. Safe means that something or someone is secured. If you’re safe, you don’t have to worry about getting hurt or being at risk. The word safety means something is intended to help avoid risk or the state of not being at risk. Real-life examples: Babies are usually kept in cribs or limited to certain parts of a house so that they will be kept safe and won’t wander into danger. Eggs are kept in special containers designed to keep them safe from cracking. Athletes often wear equipment such as helmets that keep their sensitive body parts safe (or safer) from injury. Used in a sentence: The scared child felt safe with their father and mother. Safe also means something or someone avoided danger or managed to come through an event unhurt. This sense is often used in the phrase safe and sound. Real-life examples: Firefighters, police, and paramedics won’t relax or leave a scene until they know everyone is safe. Family members of people stuck in a dangerous situation hope they will be safe. Used in a sentence: Somehow, Ebony made it out safe and sound after falling into the lion exhibit. Safe can also mean that something is not risky or is unlikely to be wrong. Real-life examples: In gambling, safe bets usually have low prizes. Companies that are already very successful and financially secure are usually considered safe investments. It is a safe guess to say it will rain if you already see thunderclouds and lightning. Used in a sentence: We took the safe way home by walking together on brightly lit streets. A safe is a secure box or similar object that is designed to protect valuables from being stolen or damaged. Real-life examples: Banks and stores often keep cash locked in a safe. You might keep your cherished things in a small safe that has a lock and key. Used in a sentence: Jadyn keeps his gold coins in an iron safe hidden behind a painting on the wall.
Synonym Usage
Safe, secure can both imply that something can be regarded as free from danger. These words are frequently interchangeable. Safe, however, is applied rather to a person or thing that is out of or has passed beyond the reach of danger: The ship is safe in port. Secure is applied to that about which there is no need to fear or worry: to feel secure about the future; The foundation of the house does not seem very secure.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
safenessnoun
-
supersafenessnoun
-
unsafenessnoun
-
quasi-safeadjective
-
supersafeadjective
-
ultrasafeadjective
-
unsafeadjective
-
safelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of safe
First recorded in 1250–1300; (adjective) Middle English sauf, saf from Anglo-French saf, Old French sauf from Latin salvus “intact, whole”; (noun) late Middle English save, originally derivative of save 1, assimilated to the adjective; cf. salvation
Explanation
If you're safe, you're out of harm's way, or protected from being hurt. These days most parents strap their small children into car seats to keep them safe. When you protect a person or an object from danger, you keep them safe. Eggs are sold in special cartons so they're safe from cracking, and drivers wear seat belts to keep them safe from being injured in accidents. Cash is kept safe in the bank. In baseball, a player is safe when they touch a base. You can also use safe as a noun, for a special box that keeps money and other valuable items safe.
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:
It’s unclear what factors led to the crash and a medical examiner’s report is still underway, but safe street advocates are pointing to the death as one reason the road improvement project is overdue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
"We don't want Australia to become a safe haven for people who are undertaking foreign interference on behalf of other countries," Barrett said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
There was the helmet with a safe amount of padding and the padding-deprived helmet that may have been obtained with a vanilla sundae at Dairy Queen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Other festival car parking will be available at Kings Meadow and Mapledurham and a pedestrian bridge has been built to ensure easy and safe access at the latter.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
“And I notified her father that I’d located her, and that she was safe, so I’m not sure why he felt the need to call you.”
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
While spy agencies have long relied on local agents for tasks that insiders can accomplish best—like unlocking doors, cracking safes and planting bugs—the new agents would do more than assist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
The contents of the safes were the family’s life savings and were uninsured, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2025
"We have found plenty of safes before," Mr Kane said.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2024
Back in March, investigators searching Combs’ Holmby Hills home emptied safes, dismantled electronics and left papers strewn in some rooms, sources told The Times.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2024
In offices around Washington, D.C., several people opened safes to see if their copies of the Pentagon Papers were missing.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
When a corporation is doing well and is financially secure, then, yes, the interest rate on its bonds will decline because investors will consider them safer.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026
Authorities have recommended measures including providing safer boats and life jackets, dredging waterways, deploying water guards at jetties and terminals, and ensuring boat operators are properly trained and licensed.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
Tech companies are under more scrutiny to make their platforms safer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
"We are working hard to restore access to these important features as quickly as possible," he wrote, assuring that the company was working "to make Discord safer for teens."
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
“Perhaps it is safer to stay there. At the very least, slipping into the giant’s throat gradually will let you live longer than if you jump over here and miss.”
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
"I had just passed my cycling proficiency. I got top marks - I was the safest rider," he said.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
"Further prospective studies and randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm these observations and better define the safest blood pressure treatment strategies for patients with DKD," concluded Dr. Agur.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 18, 2026
The safest protection is to “just say no” to “social” media.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
For many young Iranians, university admission has become the safest legal route out of a country where career prospects and social freedoms keep shrinking.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
The safest place he’d known had turned dangerous at the snap of a finger.
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
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.
