sure usually stresses the subjective or intuitive feeling of assurance.
felt sure that I had forgotten something
certain may apply to a basing of a conclusion or conviction on definite grounds or indubitable evidence.
police are certain about the cause of the fire
positive intensifies sureness or certainty and may imply opinionated conviction or forceful expression of it.
I'm positive that's the person I saw
cocksure implies presumptuous or careless positiveness.
you're always so cocksure about everything
Example Sentences
you're always so cocksure about everything
Recent Examples on the WebFrom the start, Mr. Koecher was at once brilliant and hard to take—cocksure and certain that he was destined for great things. Edward Kosner, WSJ, 25 Aug. 2022 Amid the cocksure bravado of the adventure-sports world, fluidity is read as weakness. Alison Van Houten, Outside Online, 22 Aug. 2020 So cocksure are they, even their hair seems to swagger.San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 May 2022 Craig Kilborn, the fratty cocksure original host of The Daily Show, had gotten his big call-up from CBS to host the late-night slot following David Letterman’s, which was one of two jobs Stewart didn’t get. Devin Gordon, The Atlantic, 21 Apr. 2022 After the evacuation, the four Brits were skewered as irresponsible and cocksure by Icelanders and media outlets around the world. Devon O’neil, Outside Online, 20 Apr. 2016 Sharp has other critics around the league; some are put off by his cocksure demeanor, and resent his habit of making bold strategic assertions without sufficient data to back them up. Danny Funt, The New Yorker, 12 Feb. 2022 Even as a youth, Mellencamp had a reputation for being petulant and cocksure. Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 17 Jan. 2022 Tom Barrack snowed them, by projecting an earnestness and a cocksure confidence in his own knowingness that television finds irresistible. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 21 July 2021 See More