Synonyms

certainty

American

[sur-tn-tee] / ˈsɜr tn ti /

noun

plural

certainties

the state of being certain.

Synonyms:

confidence, assurance, certitude
something certain; an assured fact.

Synonyms:

truth

idioms

for / of a certainty, certainly; without a doubt.

I suspect it, but I don't know it for a certainty.

certainty British

/ ˈsɜːtəntɪ /

noun

the condition of being certain
something established as certain or inevitable
without doubt

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Related Words

See belief.

Other Word Forms

noncertainty noun

Etymology

Origin of certainty

1250–1300; Middle English certeinte < Anglo-French, equivalent to certein certain + -te -ty ²

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.

We take it day by day, week by week, like adults who have finally accepted that certainty is an illusion.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

So the team asked the state to grant them a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, something commonly used in real-estate development to mitigate risk by creating tax certainty.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

Zhang knew every major, university, and career path so thoroughly that he spoke with absolute certainty.

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026

“The WBD Board has been guided by the singular principle of securing a transaction that maximizes the value of our iconic assets and delivers as much certainty as possible to our shareholders,” Warner Bros.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 26, 2026

He sounds sure, and I cling to that certainty.

From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023