surely

English · Thesaurus

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surely

/ˈʃɔːli/ UK
/ˈʃʊəli/ UK
/ˈʃʊɹli/ US
/ˈʃɝli/ US
/ˈʃɔɹli/ US

Sounds like Shirley (cure–fir merger) · Rhymes with -ʊə(ɹ)li, -ɔː(ɹ)li

Where it comes from

From Middle English surely; equivalent to sure + -ly.

adverb surelier · more surely · sureliest · most surely

Without fail. slowly but surely
Certainly, undoubtedly. Surely, you must be joking.
With confidence. His feet were planted surely on the ground.

Similar: certainly, wis

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: certainly, sure, sure enough, for certain, for sure, undoubtedly, definitely, decidedly, indubitably, unequivocally, doubtlessly, undeniably, unquestionably, assuredly, iwis, doubtless

adverb

Similar: certainly, wis

Translations

Every language

adv without fail

한국어	반드시 bandeusi
日本語	必ず kanarazu, きっと kitto
Français	sûrement
Deutsch	bestimmt, sicherlich
Русский	обяза́тельно objazátelʹno

adv certainly, undoubtedly

Español	seguramente, deber/haber de, seguro/fijo que
日本語	確かに tashika ni, てっきり tekkiri
中文	一定 yídìng
Português	certamente, seguramente
Français	sûrement, assurément
Deutsch	sicherlich
Italiano	sicuramente
Ελληνικά	σίγουρα sígoura
Русский	наверняка́ navernjaká, коне́чно konéčno, несомне́нно nesomnénno
العربية	بِالتَّأْكِيد bi-t-taʔkīd
עברית	בֶּטַח bétaẖ

adv with confidence

Français	sûrement, assurément
Русский	уве́ренно uvérenno

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Cite this

MLA

"surely." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/surely. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

surely. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/surely

Chicago

"surely." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/surely.

BibTeX

@misc{surely_2026,
  title = {surely},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/surely},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}