certain of
56
2.7
- idiom
- What I am certain of is that we will have five more years of continued overall decline.
- so certain of
- more certain of
- less certain of
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Watch on YouTubeHagel says, they are certain of their own competence.
- Hagel says, they are certain of their own competence.
- They can be certain of their own status, they can be certain of their own desires.
- And he says, you know, perhaps I can't really be certain of anything.
- So then, what are you certain of?
- And what you'll find is that he will say, I'm almost certain of it.
- That is the only thing we can be certain of.
- You don't really know the ideas that you think you're so certain of.
- There was a certainty, and for the majority of my life I wasn't certain of anything.
- It's trend that is here to stay, I'm certain of it.
- And I think Sigmund Freud said how bold we become when we are certain of being loved or we are sure of being loved.
- What I am certain of is that we will have five more years of continued overall decline.
- So people who are certain of things are very stupid, and when they have power, they're very, very dangerous.
- I just feel like my, I'm very certain of my views because I want to respect that everyone has that option.
- I look at people who are really certain of their beliefs, their ideas, They, they come into the world with this sense of authority.
Examples
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- Are we certain of that?
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There's nothing in this world you can be certain of.
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No, no, he was certain of one thing.
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I am certain of it.
-
How can you be certain of that?
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Never before or since have I felt in such complete control, so absolutely certain of my material.
Academic text (2008) -
I've never been more certain of anything in my life.
-
How can we be certain of what we've seen?
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I'm perfectly certain of that, Dimitri.
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I am absolutely certain of my decision to study abroad next year.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Feeling no doubt about something
759
2.5
Feeling sure about yourself or what will happen
722
1.0
Feeling sure and having no doubt
666
2.8
Feeling sure that something is true
79
3.6
Certain to continue in the future
1
9.8
Completely certain that something is true
Completely certain that something is true
Antonyms
How Certain
Surface Forms
Morphology
certain + of
The base adjective 'certain' already means 'mentally convinced' or 'sure', and the preposition 'of' simply links the thing being assured; the phrase 'certain of' is therefore compositionally predictable from its parts. This construction is common cross-linguistically and follows a standard adjective + preposition pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Certain of comes from an old word 'cert' that meant 'decide' or 'settle'. Imagine someone who has decided a question and closed the case — they feel 'no doubt', so certain of means 'confident' or having 'no doubt'.