CERTAIN | Meaning, Definition In Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of certain in English certainadjective uk /ˈsɜː.tən/ us /ˈsɝː.tən/

certain adjective (WITHOUT DOUBT)

Add to word list Add to word list B1 having no doubt or knowing exactly that something is true, or known to be true, correct, exact, or effective: [ + (that) ] Are you absolutely certain (that) you gave them the right number?feel certain I feel certain (that) you're doing the right thing.make certain You should make certain (that) everyone understands the instructions.seem certain The police seem certain (that) they will find the people responsible for the attack. [ + question word ] I'm not certain how much it will cost.certain about He was quite certain about his attacker's identity.certain of I've never been more certain of anything in my whole life. One thing is certain - she won't resign willingly.  know/say for certain C1 to know or say something without doubt: I don't know for certain if she's coming. See more

• I'm absolutely certain I left my purse on the desk.
• I feel certain I'm right.
• He's not certain whether to invest in the property market.
• Make certain that we have enough drink for the party.
• It is by no means certain that we'll finish the project by June.

Confidence & self-assurance

• amour propre
• aplomb
• assertive
• assertively
• assertiveness
• dogmatist
• empowered
• feel certain
• fierce
• forwardness
• rest assured
• safe
• safety blanket
• security blanket
• self-assertion
• timeline
• to be sure idiom
• too cool for school idiom
• unbowed
• unintimidated

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Certainty

certain adjective (EXTREMELY LIKELY)

B1 impossible to avoid or extremely likely: certain to The population explosion is certain to cause widespread famine. Oil prices are certain to rise following the agreement to limit production. After all his hard work, he's certain to pass his exams.almost certain The team looks almost certain to win the match. [ + (that) ] It is virtually certain (that) she will win the gold medal.it is certain It is almost certain (that) there will be another vote.make certain Even if a ceasefire can be agreed, how can they make certain (that) neither side breaks it? Cancer sufferers no longer face certain death as they once did. This scandal will mean certain defeat for the party in the election.

• His execution became certain when the state board refused his request for commutation.
• With Steve Lewis at the helm, we are certain of success.
• Reducing the number of staff is certain to inflame the already angry medical profession.
• It is by no means certain that we'll finish the project by June.
• She is riding the fastest horse and is certain to romp home.

Inevitable

• all roads lead to Rome idiom
• baked in
• be (only) a matter of time idiom
• be damned if you do and damned if you don't idiom
• be nothing for it idiom
• hardcode
• implacability
• implacable
• implacably
• inalienable
• inexorable
• inexorably
• insuppressible
• it can't be helped idiom
• relentless
• seal
• unavoidably
• unescapable
• unstoppable
• unstoppably

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Certainty Possible and probable

certain adjective (NAMED)

[ before noun ] formal named but neither famous nor known well: I had lunch today with a certain Will Smith - not the Will Smith, I should explain. Names and titles

• A.N. Other
• age
• aka
• alias
• appellation
• forename
• form of address
• generic name
• given name
• good name
• patronymic
• pen name
• pet name
• place name
• pseudonym
• trademark
• unchristened
• under the name of idiom
• unidentified
• unimaginatively named

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certain adjective (LIMITED)

[ before noun ] limited: to a certain extent I like modern art to a certain extent, but I don't like the really experimental stuff.to a certain degree Technology can improve the situation to a certain degree. Small in number and quantity

• as few as something
• beggarly
• below
• bupkis
• could count something on (the fingers of) one hand idiom
• low-key
• measly
• mild
• mildness
• mingy
• minimal
• remote
• scantly
• slenderly
• slenderness
• small fraction of something
• speak
• strength
• suggestion
• thin

See more results » certaindeterminer uk /ˈsɜː.tən/ us /ˈsɝː.tən/ B1 particular but not named or described: We have certain reasons for our decision, which have to remain confidential. Do you think war is justifiable in certain circumstances? Certain members of the audience may disagree with what I'm about to say.  a certain B2 used before a noun when it is difficult to describe something exactly or give its exact amount: The song has a certain appeal, but I'm not sure what it is. I felt a certain sense of joy that his candidacy had failed. I must admit that she has a certain glamour about her. For all his fine qualities, he lacked a certain self-restraint. It's an entertaining movie, but there's a certain predictability about it.

• The disease seems to be specific to certain types of plant.
• Some people find that certain foods trigger their headaches.
• It's against the law to leave children under a certain age alone in the house.
• Farmers are eligible for government support if they let a certain amount of land lie fallow.
• I'm allergic to certain foods.

Particular and individual

• be the very thing idiom
• biomarker
• calling card
• capita
• demesne
• especially
• individualistically
• individuality
• individualized
• individually
• individuate
• matter
• per capita
• personal gain
• personally
• pet
• private
• regard
• respectively
• separately

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Idiom

of a certain age certainpronoun   formal uk /ˈsɜː.tən/ us /ˈsɝː.tən/ some: certain of Certain of the candidates were well below the usual standard, but others were very good indeed. Some and quite

• a piece/slice/share of the pie idiom
• bit
• faintly
• fairly
• ha'porth
• halfway
• ish
• lightly
• little
• mildly
• pretty
• quite
• rather
• remotely
• several
• some
• to a/some degree idiom
• touch
• trifle
• vaguely

See more results » (Definition of certain from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

certain | American Dictionary

certainadjective us /ˈsɜr·tən/

certain adjective (KNOWING TO BE TRUE)

Add to word list Add to word list knowing that something is true or will happen and having no cause to feel that it may not be true or may not happen; having no doubt: "I think Emily is going to pick up Judy." "Are you certain?" One thing is certain – supporters of the bill are not giving up. [ + (that) clause ] I’m certain (that) he’ll be there. [ + question word ] I’m not certain how much it will cost. When you report a robbery, make certain a police report is filled out (= check that this happens).

certain adjective (PARTICULAR)

particular but not named or described: Parents expect their kids to leave home at a certain point.

certain adjective (LIMITED)

[ not gradable ] some but not exactly stated; limited: She enjoys sports to a certain extent. There’s a certain amount of exaggeration in all ads.

certain

pronoun us /ˈsɜrt·ən/ Charges were filed against certain of the company’s directors. (Definition of certain from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

certain | Business English

certainadjective uk /ˈsɜːtən/ us  sum certain Add to word list Add to word list LAW a particular amount of money stated in an agreement that cannot be changed: The $10 million price is sum certain. (Definition of certain from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of certain

certain Because this style of counterpoint is very difficult, certain liberties are permitted. From the Cambridge English Corpus With pretense, disguise, and unreflective belief in disinterested philosophical analysis, philosophers can easily objectify the interests of certain power groups, whether scientific or political. From the Cambridge English Corpus They have established certain principles of phonetic and phonological change, and of the social motivation for change. From the Cambridge English Corpus This study showed that phonetic forms of certain word-based productions were highly variable. From the Cambridge English Corpus If we say that these values correspond to certain concepts, it must be understood that the concepts in question are purely differential. From the Cambridge English Corpus Moreover, certain psychological phenomena suggest a structural reality underlying prototype effects. From the Cambridge English Corpus The reasonable person standard enjoys a certain sort of objectivity, insofar as it protects people from each other. From the Cambridge English Corpus They will be reduced and to a certain extent they will be systematic. From the Cambridge English Corpus The intersection between the orientation annulus and the end-effector locus represents the orientation range for a manipulator at a certain reachable workspace range. From the Cambridge English Corpus The class of quasirandom graphs is defined by certain equivalent graph properties possessed by random graphs. From the Cambridge English Corpus It is almost certain that such an appearance never took place. From the Cambridge English Corpus A certain degree of division of labour took place in the production of cigarettes, but not in the production of cigars and limpiones. From the Cambridge English Corpus They resulted from the reflection on the possibilities of acting with certain material means; not of symbolic operations, but with those of technical operations. From the Cambridge English Corpus In time, this repetitive attribution of a particular symbolic value to certain social actions became assumed as normative. From the Cambridge English Corpus The casting was subject to certain theoretical restraints. From the Cambridge English Corpus These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. What is the pronunciation of certain?

Translations of certain

in Chinese (Traditional) 無疑問的, 肯定的，無疑的, 有把握的… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 无疑问的, 肯定的，无疑的, 有把握的… See more in Spanish seguro, un tal..., algunos… See more in Portuguese certo, seguro, certo/-ta [masculine-feminine]… See more in Marathi in Japanese in Turkish in French in Catalan in Dutch in Tamil in Hindi in Gujarati in Danish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Urdu in Ukrainian in Telugu in Bengali in Czech in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Korean in Italian कोणतीही शंका नसणे किंवा एखादी गोष्ट खरी आहे किंवा सत्य, योग्य, अचूक किंवा प्रभावी असल्याचे माहित असणे… See more 確信している, 限られた, ある程度の… See more kesin, emin, kat'i… See more certain/-aine, certain… See more segur, cert… See more zeker, bepaald… See more எந்த சந்தேகமும் இல்லாமல் அல்லது ஏதாவது உண்மை அல்லது உண்மை, சரியானது, துல்லியமானது அல்லது பயனுள்ளது என்று அறியப்படுகிறது… See more (सत्य के विषय में) आश्वस्त, निश्चित, निर्विवाद… See more ખાતરી, ચોક્કસ, નિશ્ચિત અથવા અત્યંત સંભવિત… See more sikker, vis, bestemt… See more sann, säker, viss… See more pasti, mesti, seorang… See more sicher, bestimmt, gewiss… See more sikker, viss, bestemt… See more یقینی, پریقین, پراعتماد… See more певний, відомий, упевнений… See more ఖచ్చితం, నివారించడం అసాధ్యం లేక చాలా ఎక్కువ అవకాశం ఉండటం, కొన్ని… See more নিশ্চিত, নির্দিষ্ট কিন্তু নাম বা বর্ণনা করা হয়নি… See more jistý, zaručený, jakýsi… See more pasti, yakin, seorang… See more ซึ่งแท้จริง, ที่มั่นใจ, ไม่มีชื่อเฉพาะ… See more đích xác, chắc chắn, nào đó… See more pewny, pewien… See more 확신하는, 어떤… See more sicuro, certo, indubbio… See more Need a translator?

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More meanings of certain

• sum certain
• feel certain
• to a certain extent
• to a certain degree, at to a certain extent
• make certain/sure phrase
• make certain/sure
• know/say for certain phrase

See all meanings

• make certain/sure phrase
• know/say for certain phrase
• of a certain age idiom
• for certain, at for sure idiom

See all idioms and phrases

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lip balm

UK /ˈlɪp ˌbɑːm/ US /ˈlɪp ˌbɑːm/

a type of cream that is used to keep the lips soft or to help sore lips feel better

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• English   
  • Adjective 
    • certain (WITHOUT DOUBT)
    • know/say for certain
    • certain (EXTREMELY LIKELY)
    • certain (NAMED)
    • certain (LIMITED)
  • Determiner 
    • certain
    • a certain
  Pronoun
• American   
  • Adjective 
    • certain (KNOWING TO BE TRUE)
    • certain (PARTICULAR)
    • certain (LIMITED)
  • Pronoun 
    • certain
• Business   
  • Adjective 
    • sum certain
• Examples

• Translations
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