safe
Americanadjective
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secure from liability to harm, injury, danger, or risk.
a safe place.
- Synonyms:
- guarded, invulnerable
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free from hurt, injury, danger, or risk.
to arrive safe and sound.
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involving little or no risk of mishap, error, etc..
a safe estimate.
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dependable or trustworthy.
a safe guide.
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careful to avoid danger or controversy.
a safe player; a safe play.
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denied the chance to do harm; in secure custody.
a criminal safe in jail.
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Baseball.
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reaching base without being put out.
safe on the throw to first base.
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making it possible to reach a base.
a safe slide.
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adverb
noun
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a steel or iron box or repository for money, jewels, papers, etc.
- Synonyms:
- safe-deposit box, chest, coffer, strongbox
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any receptacle or structure for the storage or preservation of articles.
a meat safe.
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(in plumbing)
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a pan for catching leakage.
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Slang. a condom.
idioms
adjective
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affording security or protection from harm
a safe place
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(postpositive) free from danger
you'll be safe here
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secure from risk; certain; sound
a safe investment
a safe bet
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worthy of trust; prudent
a safe companion
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tending to avoid controversy or risk
a safe player
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unable to do harm; not dangerous
a criminal safe behind bars
water safe to drink
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informal excellent
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as a precaution
adverb
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in a safe condition
the children are safe in bed now
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to act in a way least likely to cause danger, controversy, or defeat
noun
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a strong container, usually of metal and provided with a secure lock, for storing money or valuables
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a small ventilated cupboard-like container for storing food
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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
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safenessnoun
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supersafenessnoun
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unsafenessnoun
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quasi-safeadjective
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supersafeadjective
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ultrasafeadjective
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unsafeadjective
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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:
Treasurys as a safe haven, for now at least.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
"The infrastructure is excellent, the environment is safe, and so that attracts and reassures investors. It's easier for us to raise funds when we come from a politically stable country," he added.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
Hansen wants a local wellbeing hub to include a safe space for sharing experiences as well as a fitness centre.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Metrolink spokeswoman Sabrina Davis said the 1858 train experienced mechanical issues around 4:30 p.m. and came to a stop between the Anaheim Canyon and Corona stations, where it was not safe to disembark.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
Instead, he’d made me feel safe and seen.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
Fortune Brands is best known for its home- and building-products brands including Moen, House of Rohl kitchen and bath fixtures, SentrySafe waterproof safes and others.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026
They had been stored in acid-free boxes and kept in iron safes.
From BBC ● Dec. 4, 2025
Givens said he also discovered some jewelry missing from two safes that had been opened during the search.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2024
In March, investigators searching Combs’ Holmby Hills mansion emptied safes, dismantled electronics and left papers strewn in some rooms, sources told The Times.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2024
Ellsberg entered his tiny workspace—“a cubbyhole,” he called it—barely big enough for a desk and chair, a bookcase, and two safes for classified files.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
The Los Angeles Department of Transportation wants to make the corridor safer for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
The UN has called for safer routes to be established for the Rohingyas to leave.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
And with “In the Mouth of Madness,” he once again evaluates the price of making great art, but this time from a safer distance.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
It would also make the justices safer in the long run from a public increasingly dissatisfied with their arbitrary secrecy.
From Slate ● Jul. 15, 2026
My mom thinks it’s because he’s in a hospital, and she thinks he’d be safer at home.
From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh
Southwest Nigeria -- home to economic capital Lagos -- has long been considered one of the safest regions in a country struggling with multiple security crises.
From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026
Apart from the dangerously low overnight temperatures, faraway Omsk seemed like the safest place on earth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
However, as conditions worsened and warnings escalated, he and governors acted "with caution" and decided closure was the safest option.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
In Los Angeles alone, preliminary data show that crime rates dropped to a historic low last year not seen since the 1960s, and that L.A. is the safest it has been in generations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
The Witchlings broke out of the Cursed Forest, and Seven led them toward the gazebo at the center of town, one of the safest, most protected areas of downtown Ravenskill.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
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.
