assure
Americanverb (used with object)
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assures,
present (3rd person singular)
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assured,
past participle, past
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assuring
present participle
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to declare earnestly to; inform or tell positively; state with confidence to.
She assured us that everything would turn out all right.
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to cause to know surely; reassure.
He assured himself that no one was left on the bus.
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to pledge or promise; give surety of; guarantee.
He was assured a job in the spring.
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to make (a future event) sure; ensure.
This contract assures the company's profit this month.
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to secure or confirm; render safe or stable.
to assure a person's position.
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to give confidence to; encourage.
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Chiefly British. to insure, as against loss.
verb
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to cause to feel sure or certain; convince
to assure a person of one's love
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to promise; guarantee
he assured us that he would come
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to state positively or with assurance
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to make (an event) certain; ensure
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to insure against loss, esp of life
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property law another word for convey
Usage
What's the difference between assure, ensure, and insure? Assure usually means to tell someone something with confidence or to cause someone to know something with certainty—it often means the same thing as reassure. Ensure most commonly means to guarantee or make certain, as in Working hard ensures success. Insure typically means to guarantee against loss or harm or, more specifically, to cover with insurance. It’s no wonder there’s confusion between the three words—all three are verbs that are based on the Latin root sēcūrus, meaning safe. Making things even more confusing is the fact that ensure and insure can be used interchangeably in most senses. Still, insure is much more commonly used in the context of insurance, like car insurance, health insurance, and homeowner’s insurance. These kinds of insurance insure you—they give you coverage that provides you with compensation in certain cases and situations. Ensure is typically used in a more general way in the context of actions that are done to make sure that something happens or is the case, as in We need to ensure that the meeting starts on time. Assure is always used in the context of communication, especially in situations in which someone is trying to make someone else feel better about something. It’s used in the phrase rest assured. Here’s a quick cheat sheet to remember the most common uses of each word:assure = reassureensure = make sureinsure = cover with insuranceHere’s an example of assure, ensure, and insure used correctly in a sentence. Example: She assured me that the company has ensured that every employee has the opportunity to be insured. Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between assure, ensure, and insure.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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assurernoun
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assurornoun
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interassureverb (used with object)
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preassureverb (used with object)
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assurableadjective
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unassuringadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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assuresimple
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assuressimple
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have assuredperfect
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has assuredperfect
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am assuringprogressive
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are assuringprogressive
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is assuringprogressive
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have been assuringperfect progressive
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has been assuringperfect progressive
Past
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assuredsimple
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had assuredperfect
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was assuringprogressive
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were assuringprogressive
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had been assuringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of assure
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English as(e)uren, assuren, from Old French aseurer, from Late Latin assēcūrāre, from Latin as- as- + sēcūr(us) ( see secure) + -āre, infinitive suffix
Explanation
If you assure your boss that you’ll finish your project by Tuesday, you are making a promise or commitment to have it done by Tuesday. The verbs insure and ensure look and sound like assure but they aren't synonyms. There is some overlap in meaning — all of them can mean “to make secure or certain” — but assure is generally used in situations when you are referring to a person: “I assure you that I haven’t forgotten about driving you to the airport,” or “He called his mother to assure her that everything will be fine.”
Vocabulary lists containing assure
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 7–11
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List 4
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Bridge to Terabithia
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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:
“I regularly interact with international and national leaders, and I want to assure you, we have an international, a national reputation for our work on environmental concerns,” Bass said at the L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Chip makers are fighting to assure investors that the artificial-intelligence boom is racing forward.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
I appreciate that your goal is to help others, and assure parents who are going through something similar that it does, indeed, get better.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026
But Bayern officials have moved quickly to assure supporters the German international had been cleared to play on Tuesday by medical experts .
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
He successfully lobbied for Washington to head the Continental Army and personally selected Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence, two strategic decisions designed to assure Virginia’s support for the cause.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
“I’m hopeful for a settlement that assures that Paramount and Warner Bros. will maintain their operations and remain a significant economic and employment force in Los Angeles.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
“No taxpayer dollars were spent for the participation of Secretary Duffy’s family,” an opening title card assures us.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
“If you look at the world long enough and hard enough,” the narrator assures us, “you will see that there is truth in it and that is beautiful.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Galindo assures potential clients, “I’m supportive of all identities and relationship styles so long as they honor the safety of the self & others, physically, emotionally, and otherwise <3.”
From Slate ● May 22, 2026
She can offer me a job now, but first a little “survey,” on which there are no right or wrong answers, she assures me, just whatever I think.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
The movie’s metaphors are mixed; its sense of purpose is poetic and assured.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
"Canada will always be with you," Carney assured Zelensky.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
In response to media enquiries, the dairy board's managing director William Maritim assured that despite the "temporary supply constraint", milk continued to be available.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
“I could come in and do nothing and be pretty reasonably assured it would be a going concern.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Fine assured him that he just wanted to play a few games with him.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., was assuring reporters that Blanche’s nomination would be back as soon as next week, after “a resolution on the issues that Senators Cornyn and Tillis raised.”
From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2026
Some in the real-estate industry encouraged aspiring buyers to “date the rate, marry the house,” assuring them that they could refinance when rates dropped.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
A speech by Woody assuring Forky that he’d be treasured forever, Stanton said, was “very attached to the growth of my life with my family.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
The city issued a statement on Monday, apologizing for the incident and assuring the public that the inclusion of the images was not intentional.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
When you say Durham! the wheels begin to turn, the smoke rolls in massive clouds from every stack and the sweet assuring music of busy machinery is heard.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
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.
