Meanings
comparative more certainly · comparative obsolete rare certainlier · superlative most certainly · obsolete rare superlative certainliest
- In a way which is certain; with certainty.
The torque was "built up" in the special back axle and the car crawled tankwise but very certainly over the obstacles without a jar or hesitation.
1923, A. A. Hill, Automobile Dealer and Repairer, page 301 more example
he verily thought he had young live frogs in his belly, qui vivebant ex alimento suo, that lived by his nourishment, and was so certainly persuaded of it, that for many years following he could not be rectified in his conceit.
1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 1, section 3, member 2, subsection 2Synonyms: absolutely, beyond doubt, indubitably, sure thing, undoubtedly, wis, without a doubt
- Without doubt, surely.
That was certainly sweet of him.
4 more examples
The accident was certainly caused by human error.
'I'm all grown up now' -'You certainly have (grown)!'
So this was my future home, I thought! Certainly it made a brave picture. I had seen similar ones fired-in on many a Heidelberg stein. Backed by towering hills,[…]a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLCWikiLeaks did not cause these uprisings but it certainly informed them. The dispatches revealed details of corruption and kleptocracy that many Tunisians suspected, but could not prove, and would cite as they took to the streets.
2013 June 7, Gary Younge, “Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, archived from the original on 02 Dec 2014, page 18Synonyms: definitely, doubtlessly, in fact, indeed, indisputably, indubitably, no doubt, really
- An emphatic affirmative answer; of course.
Would you like it with ice? Certainly, and with lemon please.
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbIn a way which is certain; with certainty.
adverbWithout doubt, surely.
More synonyms by meaning
adverbdefinitely or positively (‘sure’ is sometimes used informally for ‘surely’)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishcerteynly
- Englishcertainly
From Middle English certeynly; equivalent to certain + -ly.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek οὖν, οὖν
- οὖν (oûn)with certainty
- οὖν (oûn)without doubt, surely
Arabic بِالتَّأْكِيد, بِالتَّأْكِيد
- بِالتَّأْكِيد (bi-t-taʔkīd)with certainty
- بِالتَّأْكِيد (bi-t-taʔkīd)without doubt, surely
- بِدُون شَكّ (bidūn šakk)without doubt, surely
- بِدُون نِقَاش (bidūn niqāš)without doubt, surely
- بِالتَّأْكِيد (bi-t-taʔkīd)emphatic affirmative answer
- بِدُون شَكّ (bidūn šakk)emphatic affirmative answer
- بِدُون نِقَاش (bidūn niqāš)emphatic affirmative answer
Bulgarian си́гурно, безспо́рно
- си́гурно (sígurno)with certainty
- безспо́рно (bezspórno)without doubt, surely
- несъмне́но (nesămnéno)without doubt, surely
- си́гурно (sígurno)without doubt, surely
- разби́ра се (razbíra se)emphatic affirmative answer
Catalan certament, certament
- certamentwith certainty
- certamentwithout doubt, surely
- sens dubtewithout doubt, surely
- sense cap mena de dubtewithout doubt, surely
- certamentemphatic affirmative answer
Chinese Mandarin 當然 /当然, 一定
- 當然 /当然 (dāngrán)without doubt, surely
- 一定 (yīdìng)without doubt, surely
- 當然 /当然 (dāngrán)emphatic affirmative answer
Czech určitě, nepochybně
- určitěwithout doubt, surely
- nepochybněwithout doubt, surely
- jistěwithout doubt, surely
- samozřejměwithout doubt, surely
- určitěemphatic affirmative answer
- nepochybněemphatic affirmative answer
- jistěemphatic affirmative answer
- zajistéemphatic affirmative answer
Dutch beslist, voorzeker
- beslistwithout doubt, surely
- voorzekerwithout doubt, surely
- zekerwithout doubt, surely
- waarlijkwithout doubt, surely
- beslistemphatic affirmative answer
- voorzekeremphatic affirmative answer
- zekeremphatic affirmative answer
- en ofemphatic affirmative answer
Esperanto certe, certe
- certewith certainty
- certewithout doubt, surely
- sendubewithout doubt, surely
- jes jaemphatic affirmative answer
- certeemphatic affirmative answer
- komprenebleemphatic affirmative answer
Finnish varmasti, todellakin
- varmastiwith certainty
- todellakinwithout doubt, surely
- varmastiwithout doubt, surely
- epäilemättäwithout doubt, surely
- totta kaiemphatic affirmative answer
- ilman muutaemphatic affirmative answer
- kyllä kiitosemphatic affirmative answer
French certainement, certainement
- certainementwith certainty
- certainementwithout doubt, surely
- sûrementwithout doubt, surely
- sans nul doutewithout doubt, surely
- sans aucun doutewithout doubt, surely
- certainementemphatic affirmative answer
- bien sûremphatic affirmative answer
- pour sûremphatic affirmative answer
- évidemmentemphatic affirmative answer
German sicherlich, zweifellos
- sicherlichwithout doubt, surely
- zweifelloswithout doubt, surely
- gewisswithout doubt, surely
- freilichwithout doubt, surely
- sicheremphatic affirmative answer
- natürlichemphatic affirmative answer
Greek βεβαίως, βεβαίως
- βεβαίως (vevaíos)with certainty
- βεβαίως (vevaíos)without doubt, surely
- σίγουρα (sígoura)without doubt, surely
- ασφαλώς (asfalós)without doubt, surely
- βεβαίως (vevaíos)emphatic affirmative answer
- ασφαλώς (asfalós)emphatic affirmative answer
Hebrew בוודאות, בוודאות
- בוודאות (bevada'út)with certainty
- בוודאות (bevada'út)without doubt, surely
- בוודאיwithout doubt, surely
- בוודאי (be'vadai)emphatic affirmative answer
- כַּמּוּבָןemphatic affirmative answer
Hindi अवश्य
- अवश्य (avaśya)without doubt, surely
Hungarian biztosan, bizonyosan
- biztosanwith certainty
- bizonyosanwith certainty
- határozottanwith certainty
- mindenképpenwithout doubt, surely
- feltétlenülwithout doubt, surely
- kétségkívülwithout doubt, surely
- kétségtelenülwithout doubt, surely
- ténylegwithout doubt, surely
- hogyneemphatic affirmative answer
- természetesenemphatic affirmative answer
- feltétlenülemphatic affirmative answer
- szívesenemphatic affirmative answer
Italian certamente, certamente
- certamentewith certainty
- certamentewithout doubt, surely
- senza dubbiowithout doubt, surely
- non ci piovewithout doubt, surely
- certamenteemphatic affirmative answer
- evidentementeemphatic affirmative answer
Japanese 確かに, 必ず
- 確かに (tashika ni)without doubt, surely
- 必ず (kanarazu)without doubt, surely
- 絶対に (zettai ni)without doubt, surely
- 確実に (kakujitsu ni)without doubt, surely
- その通り (sono tōri)emphatic affirmative answer
- 全く (mattaku)emphatic affirmative answer
- 必ず (kanarazu)emphatic affirmative answer
- もちろん (mochiron)emphatic affirmative answer
Korean 확실히
- 확실히 (hwaksilhi)without doubt, surely
Latin quippe, certō
- quippewith certainty
- certōwithout doubt, surely
- certēemphatic affirmative answer
Māori āe rā, āpāia
- āe rāwithout doubt, surely
- āpāiaemphatic affirmative answer
- apa iaemphatic affirmative answer
- anaoaemphatic affirmative answer
Persian بطور محرز
- بطور محرزwithout doubt, surely
Polish z pewnością, pewnie
- z pewnościąwithout doubt, surely
- pewniewithout doubt, surely
- na pewnoemphatic affirmative answer
- zdecydowanieemphatic affirmative answer
Portuguese certamente, garantidamente
- certamentewith certainty
- garantidamentewith certainty
- certamentewithout doubt, surely
- sem dúvidawithout doubt, surely
- certamenteemphatic affirmative answer
- sem dúvidaemphatic affirmative answer
Romanian bineînțeles, desigur
- bineînțeleswithout doubt, surely
- desigurwithout doubt, surely
Russian коне́чно, несомне́нно
- коне́чно (konéčno)without doubt, surely
- несомне́нно (nesomnénno)without doubt, surely
- непреме́нно (nepreménno)without doubt, surely
- безусло́вно (bezuslóvno)without doubt, surely
- наверняка́ (navernjaká)without doubt, surely
- бесспо́рно (besspórno)without doubt, surely
- коне́чно (konéčno)emphatic affirmative answer
- несомне́нно (nesomnénno)emphatic affirmative answer
- непреме́нно (nepreménno)emphatic affirmative answer
- безусло́вно (bezuslóvno)emphatic affirmative answer
Slovak určite, samozrejme
- určitewithout doubt, surely
- samozrejmewithout doubt, surely
- istewithout doubt, surely
- istowithout doubt, surely
Spanish ciertamente, dejuramente
- ciertamentewith certainty
- dejuramentewith certainty
- cierto quewith certainty
- certeramentewith certainty
- ciertamentewithout doubt, surely
- a todas luceswithout doubt, surely
- certeramentewithout doubt, surely
- dejuramentewithout doubt, surely
Swahili maalum
- maalumwithout doubt, surely
Swedish säkerligen, utan tvekan
- säkerligenwithout doubt, surely
- utan tvekanwithout doubt, surely
- naturligtvisemphatic affirmative answer
- självklartemphatic affirmative answer
- utan tvekanemphatic affirmative answer
- självfalletemphatic affirmative answer
Turkish kesinlikle, kesinlikle
- kesinliklewith certainty
- kesinliklewithout doubt, surely
Ukrainian авже́ж, безсумні́вно
- авже́ж (avžéž)without doubt, surely
- безсумні́вно (bezsumnívno)without doubt, surely
- неодмі́нно (neodmínno)without doubt, surely
- звича́йно (zvyčájno)without doubt, surely
- безумо́вно (bezumóvno)without doubt, surely
- напе́вно (napévno)without doubt, surely
Urdu اوشیے
- اوشیے (avaśye)without doubt, surely
Vietnamese chắc chắn
- chắc chắnwithout doubt, surely
Yiddish אַוודאי
- אַוודאי (avade)without doubt, surely
Cite this entry
certainly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/certainly
“certainly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/certainly. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “certainly,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/certainly.
Source: certainly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.