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:
They seem to be straining every nerve to convince you that they are done with flippant irrelevancies, that this time they are in deadly earnest, writing a sure-enough mystery story.
From Time Magazine Archive
Author De Hartog, a sure-enough seafaring man, began his nautical career at ten, got to be a brass polisher on an Amsterdam tugboat.
From Time Magazine Archive
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
Teacher Anthony is a sure-enough sculptor who has studied under Carl Milles, works not only in soap but in wood, bronze, stone.
From Time Magazine Archive
“But it is hard to have to accept a veritable gawk of a fellow like Lucas–for that’s what he is!–as a sure-enough hero.”
From The Girls of Hillcrest Farm The Secret of the Rocks by Amy Bell Marlowe
And sure enough, that scholarship came to the court, and the court cited it, and most of it has been debunked and disproven, but it’s the law anyway.
From Slate ● Aug. 16, 2026
“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
He painstakingly watched the game tape and, sure enough, he had scored 31 points.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026
I turn and, sure enough, there she is, gorgeous in pink sequins and feathered headdress, removing her horses’ halters and letting them drop to the ground.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
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.
