sure

[ shoo r, shur ]
/ ʃʊər, ʃɜr /

adjective, sur·er, sur·est.

adverb

Informal. certainly; surely: It sure is cold out. Sure, I'll come.

Idioms for sure

Origin of sure

1300–50; Middle English sur(e) < Middle French sur, Old French seur < Latin sēcūrus secure

SYNONYMS 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.

usage note for 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

British Dictionary definitions for to be 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, noun

Word Origin for sure

C14: from Old French seur, from Latin sēcūrus secure

Idioms and Phrases with to be sure (1 of 2)

to be sure

Undoubtedly, certainly, of course, as in The coat is expensive, to be sure, but it's bound to last longer than a cheap one. This idiom was first recorded in 1657.

Idioms and Phrases with to be sure (2 of 2)

sure