Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The fact, quality, or state of being certain: the certainty of death.
- n. Something that is clearly established or assured: "On the field of battle there are no certainties” ( Tom Clancy).
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The quality or fact of being certain, fixed, determinate, or sure; the possession, as by a judgment or proposition, of certain marks which place it in the class of true propositions; exemption from failure or liability to fail; infallibility; inevitability: as, the certainty of an event, or of the success of a remedy.
- n. A clearly established fact, truth, or state; that which is positively ascertained, demonstrated, or intuitively known, or which cannot be questioned.
- n. That which is sure to be or occur; an assured event or result; an unerring forecast.
- n. Full assurance of mind; exemption from doubt; certitude.
- n. Same as certain, 3.
Wiktionary
- n. The state of being certain.
- n. An instance of being certain.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The quality, state, or condition, of being certain.
- n. A fact or truth unquestionable established.
- n. Clearness; freedom from ambiguity; lucidity.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the state of being certain
- n. something that is certain
Examples
“The other, which we call the certainty of adherence, is when the heart doth cleave and stick unto that which it doth believe.”
“But the certainty is unfortunately only deceptive.”
“The most we can say with certainty is she's definitely comfortable with it ... and definitely family members do," he said.”
The Huffington Post: Palin, At Center of Political Stage, Keeps Mum on Faith
“On a young team in transition with a new general manager, the only certainty is change.”
“The racial barriers of the early 20th century are there, but there's that tone of moral certainty from the characters that rings through to nearly all who read it.”
“The only certainty is that central banks and other decision makers appear to be increasingly united in pursuing strategies that will devalue their currencies, however diverse those strategies might be.”
The Wall Street Journal: A Search for the Least Vulnerable Currencies
“Second, the concessionary review clause slipped in by the Treasury will allow the government to backtrack on the budget in 2014, depending on progress elsewhere in the EU, reducing long-term certainty on emissions cuts and potentially harming the investor confidence in green technologies which the Climate Change Act is designed to build.”
The Guardian: Letters: Two cheers for the coalition's climate change budget
“An epistemic certainty is articulated as a concrete, physical proposition that happens to be true.”
“The only thing that can be stated with any certainty is the maximum speed; actual speed will depend on a lot of things not the least of which is congestion.”
“But of course, it's in conflict where itneresting stuff arises whereas dead certainty is a total bore.”
Lists
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