sure-enough
adjective
real; genuine.
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sure-enough
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sure enough
sure enoughActually, as one might have thought, as in Sure enough, the plane was three hours late. [Mid-1500s]
sure-enough
American
[shoor-i-nuhf, shur-]
/ ˈʃʊər ɪˈnʌf, ˈʃɜr- /
adjective
Older Use.
sure enough
Idioms
Etymology
Origin of sure-enough
First recorded in 1535–45
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:
By last week, when his one-man show opened in Manhattan's Bonestell Gallery, modest Arnold Friedman was making a noise like a sure-enough artist.
From Time Magazine Archive
One day a sure-enough snake turned up in the plausible person of Henri Gauthier-Villars, a 34-year-old literary hack who married her and then shut her up in his Paris garret.
From Time Magazine Archive
This taut tale of what happened one night in big-time Charley King's midwestern gambling house will give ordinary bridge and poker fans a rough notion of the fever that throbs in a sure-enough gambler's veins.
From Time Magazine Archive
A slender amputation case in a lower, still staring through the window into the dark countryside, said: 'I knew a real sure-enough model' and went on in detail about her.
From Time Magazine Archive
This is a sure-enough pinch, but it ain’t for gambling, you can bet your sweet life!
From Young Wallingford by Chester, George Randolph
“It was like the magazine cover curse — as soon as that happened, it was like, ‘Oh, boy,’ and, sure enough, we’ve been down since.”
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 2, 2026
And sure enough, as UConn’s shots started falling and its defense stiffened against Boozer’s attacks, the deficit narrowed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
And sure enough, in large part they have, according to an analysis that Odhrain McCarthy External link conducted for Barron’s.
From Barron's ● Mar. 24, 2026
He painstakingly watched the game tape and, sure enough, he had scored 31 points.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026
And sure enough, with each step closer to the closet, the sound gets louder.
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
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.
