sure
[ shoor, shur ]
/ ʃʊər, ʃɜr /
adjective, sur·er, sur·est.
adverb
Informal. certainly; surely: It sure is cold out. Sure, I'll come.
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Idioms for sure
Origin of sure
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English sur(e), from Middle French sur,Old French seur, from Latin sēcūrus “carefree”; see secure
synonym study for sure
1. Sure, certain, confident, positive indicate full belief and trust that something is true. Sure, certain, and positive are often used interchangeably. Sure, the simplest and most general, expresses mere absence of doubt. Certain suggests that there are definite reasons that have freed one from doubt. Confident emphasizes the strength of the belief or the certainty of expectation felt. Positive implies emphatic certainty, which may even become overconfidence or dogmatism.
words often confused with sure
Both sure and surely are used as intensifying adverbs with the sense “undoubtedly, certainly.” In this use, sure is generally informal and occurs mainly in speech and written representations of speech: She sure dazzled the audience with her acceptance speech. It was sure hot enough in the auditorium. Surely is used in this sense in all varieties of speech and writing, even the most formal: The court ruled that the law was surely meant to apply to both profit-making and nonprofit organizations. See also quick, slow.
OTHER WORDS FROM sure
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for sure
British Dictionary definitions for sure
sure
/ (ʃʊə, ʃɔː) /
adjective
adverb
(sentence substitute) informal willingly; yes
(sentence modifier) informal, mainly US and Canadian without question; certainly
Derived forms of sure
sureness, nounWord Origin for sure
C14: from Old French seur, from Latin sēcūrus secure
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Idioms and Phrases with sure
sure
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.