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
Adjective I'm fairly certain that I'll be on time. a certain person told me that today is your birthday
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
The law passed that year provided triggers that forced the legislature to place money into the rainy day fund — rather than spending it — if personal income taxes from Wall Street stock and bond gains exceeded certain levels. Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 18 Sep. 2022 The measures aim to protect the E.U. budget by making funding conditional on certain standards. Emily Rauhala, Washington Post, 18 Sep. 2022 And the court's docket for the term that begins in October is all but certain to have major repercussions for the 2024 presidential election. Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAY, 18 Sep. 2022 Of course, this country offered a refuge for many Jewish families, and American Jews like me tend to grow up with a certain optimistic image of our country. James Mcauley, The New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2022 That unit of cloth was equal to a certain weight of silver. Francine Russo, Scientific American, 18 Sep. 2022 For a certain strain of the British population, the loss of the Commonwealth sounds like good news. Kojo Koram, The New Republic, 18 Sep. 2022 The new annual stocking level of 1 million fish will allow the Michigan DNR to increase numbers at certain sites and reinstate stocking at some sites that were discontinued, Wesley said. Paul A. Smith, Journal Sentinel, 18 Sep. 2022 But while most of us enjoy music, there are certain people who don't just like music... Ni'kesia Pannell, Woman's Day, 17 Sep. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Adjective
Middle English certeyn, certayne, borrowed from Anglo-French certein, certain, going back to Vulgar Latin *certānus, from Latin certus "fixed, settled, indisputable," originally past participle of cernere "to sift, discern, decide, determine" (going back to an Indo-European present stem *kri-n-, verbal adjective *kri-to-, from a verbal base *krei̯̯̯(h1)- "sift, separate," whence Greek krī́nein "to separate, choose, decide," verbal adjective kritós, Welsh gogrynu "to sift") + -ānus + -an entry 2