English Dictionary
Definition of “certain”
certain (ˈsɜːtənn
)
Definitions
adjective
- (postpositive) positive and confident about the truth of something; convinced ⇒
I am certain that he wrote a book
- (usually postpositive) definitely known ⇒
it is certain that they were on the bus
- (usually postpositive) sure; bound; destined ⇒
he was certain to fail
- decided or settled upon; fixed ⇒
the date is already certain for the invasion
- unfailing; reliable ⇒
his judgment is certain
- moderate or minimum ⇒
to a certain extent
- See make certain of
determiner
- known but not specified or named ⇒
certain people may doubt this
- ((as pronoun; functioning as plural) ⇒
certain of the members have not paid their subscriptions
- named but not known ⇒
he had written to a certain Mrs Smith
Word Origin
C13: from Old French, from Latin certus sure, fixed, from cernere to discern, decide
Synonyms
View thesaurus entry
=
known,
true,
positive,
plain,
ascertained,
unmistakable,
conclusive,
undoubted,
unequivocal,
undeniable,
irrefutable,
unquestionable,
incontrovertible,
indubitable,
nailed-on,
Translations
- British English:
certain
If you are certain about something, you know it is true.She's certain that she's going to win.ˈsɜːtn ADJECTIVE She's certain that she's going to win.
- Spanish:
cierto
adj cierta
- French:
certain
adj
- German:
sicher
adj
- Chinese: 确定的 adj
- Arabic: مُؤَكَّد adj
- Portuguese: certo adj certa
- Russian: определенный adj определенная
- Croatian: siguran adj sigurna
- Czech: jistý adj
- Danish: sikker adj
- Dutch: sommige adj
- Finnish: varma adj
- Greek: σίγουρος adj σίγουρη
- Italian: certo adj certa
- Japanese: 確信している no_posp
- Korean: 확신하는 adj
- Norwegian: sikker adj
- Polish: pewny adj pewna
- Brazilian Portuguese: certo adj certa
- European Spanish:
cierto
adj cierta
- Swedish: säker adj säkert
- Thai: แน่นอน adj
- Turkish: kesin adj
- Vietnamese: chắc chắn adj
Usage examples
No examples available.
