certain
Usage
What are other ways to say certain?
Certain, one of a handful of adjectives indicating full belief and trust that something is true, 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. Sure, the simplest and most general term, expresses mere absence of doubt.
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.
Users give prior consent for certain health-related recordings, such as those related to sleep, mood, meals and pain levels, to be shared with their welfare workers.
From Barron's • Jun. 11, 2026
UK citizens with certain criminal convictions or immigration issues are usually not eligible.
From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026
While these drugs have been successful against certain tumors, many cancers eventually adapt.
From Science Daily • Jun. 10, 2026
The film can hardly avoid being described as “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” meets “Enemy of the State,” and that such comparisons are so obvious bespeaks a certain lack of originality.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 10, 2026
I’m pretty certain I didn’t make any such promise.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Vocabulary lists containing certain
The Real Deal: Synonyms for "True"
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List 1
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A Sure Thing: Synonyms for "Definite"
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