certain
adjective
Simple meaning
Sure in one's mind.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
surtuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsɝtən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Sure in one's mind, positive; absolutely confident in the truth of something.
Sure to happen, inevitable; assured.
Not to be doubted or denied; established as a fact.
Particular and definite, but unspecified or unnamed; used to introduce someone or something without going into further detail.
preceded by "a"of a person
Named but not previously mentioned.
preceded by "a"of a person
Used before the name of someone famous that people are expected to know.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Not to be doubted or denied; established as a fact.
Used this way, certain is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use certain
- “What is certain is that every effect must have a cause.”adjective
- “Felt certain of success.”adjective
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Definitely or positively (`sure' is sometimes used informally for `surely').
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Definitely or positively (`sure' is sometimes used informally for `surely').
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Antonyms
Sense: sure in one's mind or positive
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “certain” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.