secure
adjective · verb
Simple meaning
Safe from danger or not likely to be lost
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
sihkyoorSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
sɪkˈjʊɹ
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
Free from danger or risk
Free from attack or danger; protected.
Free from the danger of theft; safe.
Free from the risk of financial loss; reliable.
Not likely to fail or give way
Firm and not likely to fail; stable.
verb
To get possession of; to make oneself secure of; to acquire certainly.
To make safe; to relieve from apprehensions of, or exposure to, danger; to guard; to protect.
To put beyond hazard of losing or of not receiving; to make certain; to assure; frequently with against or from, or formerly with of.
To make fast; to close or confine effectually; to render incapable of getting loose or escaping.
Get by special effort
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Free from danger or risk
Used this way, secure is a reasonably familiar word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A bond that is back by collateral.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Any interest in a property that secures the payment of an obligation.
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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.