certaintycer‧tain‧ty /ˈsɜːtnti $ ˈsɜːr-/ ●●○ noun (plural certainties) 
She knew with absolute certainty that he’d say no. The result is impossible to predict with any degree of certainty.2[uncountable] the fact that something is certain to happencertainty of (doing) something the certainty of being caughtcertainty that There’s no certainty that he’ll remember.3[countable] something that is definitely true or that will definitely happen: He usually does quite well, but it’s not a certainty. The only certainty is that there will need to be major changes.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Further job cutbacks are a certainty.
- It is also wiser not to treat every offer as an 18-carat-gold certainty.
- On the other hand, we can never possess such a certainty that some one loves us.
- Patrick Gabriel had brought corruption, disturbing order, shaking the certainties that Quex needed.
- The theological certainties he found in others intrigued, but never convinced Eyre.
- This diagnosis can be established with certainty only by testing the cerebrospinal fluid.
Longman Language Activatorwhen something will definitely happen
use this to say that you are completely sure that something will happen or that someone will do something. Definitely is more common in spoken English than certainly: · I'll certainly be glad when this course is over.· Roger and Andy are definitely coming, but I'm not sure about Nancy.· We'll certainly be back by 7 o'clock.· Owen is injured and will definitely miss the game on Saturday.
informal if you say that something will happen for sure , you mean it will certainly happen: · Yeah, you'll see him. He'll be there for sure.· Milan are going to win the cup for sure. They're just such a strong team.that's for sure: · She'll come home when she runs out of money, that's for sure.
if something is bound to happen it is certain to happen, especially because that is what always happens: · The kids are bound to be hungry when they get home -- they always are.· My car broke down today. It was bound to happen sooner or later.· Have you asked Ted? He's sure to know.· The drop in prices and lack of demand are certain to affect the manufacturing industry.
use this to say that something is certain to happen but no one knows exactly when: · You'll learn how to do it eventually -- it's only a matter of time.· Your father is dying and there's nothing we can do. I'm afraid it's just a matter of time.it's only/just a matter of time before: · It was only a matter of time before Lynn found out Phil's secret.
if something is cut and dried , it is certain to happen in a particular way because it has already been planned or decided, and nothing can be done to change it: · My future was cut and dried. I would join my father's firm, and take it over when he retired.· We made the arrangements weeks ago. It's all cut and dried.
if something is a certainty , it is certain to happen, especially because the situation has changed and made it certain: · Johnson was the fastest man on earth, and a gold medal seemed a certainty.· Being left alone in her old age, the fate she had always feared, now became a certainty.
if something, especially a result, is a foregone conclusion, it is certain to happen even though it has not yet been officially decided: · Ian's bound to get the job -- it's a foregone conclusion.· The outcome of the battle was a foregone conclusion.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY The result is impossible to predict with any degree of certainty.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
The result is impossible to predict with any degree of certainty.· For they know with absolute certainty that one day it will come.· There was absolute certainty in his voice.· The threat to truth as the goal of science is not just a threat to absolute certainty.· They were up against the absolute certainty of guilt expressed by all the parties weighed against them.· That is, the position of a particle could not be defined with absolute certainty, but only by statistical probability.· He had to have absolute certainty.· An absolute certainty that no-one wishes you harm.· I did not know what I wanted to be but knew with absolute certainty what I did not want to be.
· This notion is based on the assumption of a perfect financial market, with perfect knowledge and complete certainty about the future.· That there will at some unknown point in the future be such a crisis is a complete certainty.· It may be said at once that these questions can not be answered with complete certainty.
· A fixed-price offer gives issuers greater certainty and intermediaries lower fees.· Within those areas covered by the rational basis part of the test there would be greater certainty.· Facilities such as these will allow the engineer to possibly gain deeper systems understanding and through this obtain greater diagnostic certainty.· The system encourages good government-the difficulty of reversing a commitment can mean a greater certainty and clarity about trading conditions.· Creggan suddenly felt strength and great certainty.· Where human life is at stake, a much greater degree of certainty is required.
· It offers both traders and customers a high level of certainty as to exactly what is on offer.· A high degree of certainty permits a high structure.
· We can possess a mathematical certainty that two and two make four, but this rarely matters to us.
· What is most striking, however, is the way the play keeps subverting our moral certainties.· He has equipped him, too, with a moral certainty which the Rat recognises and envies.· Yet the political and moral certainties of the old polarities have dissolved.· Their telling and retelling relay important principles of hope rooted in political and moral certainties about the outcome of struggle.· An almost frightening moral certainty swept over it and began to soothe its pain.
· As a stake in society comes in at a higher cost, the old certainties begin to wither.· No matter how partners parent, children introduce the kind of emotional strain that can shatter old harmonies and certainties.· The experience of New Labour in office has dented old certainties.· All that is certain is that the old certainty no longer exists.· The old clear-cut certainties dissolved into an indeterminate haze.
· The only certainty was that she had a few seconds to act.· As we approach the millennium the only certainty is change, and lots of it.· But whatever happens, the only certainty is that the crags will never change.· The only certainty in this airline shake-out is that, ultimately, it is going to cost the traveller a lot.· We all know that, however much we may try to deter it, death is the only certainty.
· Other individual fluctuations can be assigned to specific causes with reasonable certainty.· This would allow a pollution sample to be matched with reasonable certainty to its source.
· It can already be said with virtual certainty that lamb will never be as cheap again.· Raymond Burns and the vastly experienced Garth McGimpsey must be considered virtual certainties.
VERB· When the basic concepts have been established the assumption of certainty will be removed.· This diagnosis can be established with certainty only by testing the cerebrospinal fluid.
· Had felt the overpowering certainty of the man behind the words and, again, recognised the echo in himself.· I remember that I felt astonished at her certainty.· She felt, with a certainty she couldn't explain, that he had called her here, and for some purpose.· He felt the certainty of it.· One by one, she felt her certainties crumble to dust.· He felt it was a certainty.· In the warm sunlight, I feel with certainty that my world is expanding and my mind with it.
· First, it entails defining the site's boundaries beforehand, and these are not always known with certainty.· They needed to know, with enough certainty to avoid embarrassment, inconvenience, and lawsuits when the building was completed.· He knew it for a certainty.· For they know with absolute certainty that one day it will come.· In contrast, the future spot price can not be known with certainty precisely because it is a future price.· Is there anything that we can really know with certainty?· But she knew with bleak certainty that, once she'd left it, she would never, ever come back.· He was not saying merely that you believed it, but that you could know it as certainty!
· In many cases it may be impossible to predict with certainty whether or not a particular clause will be effective.· It is therefore impossible to predict with certainty what amount of supplementation will result in what increment in the serum phosphate concentration.· Very little has been discovered of the gates, although their sites can be predicted with tolerable certainty.· One would like the additional information to be conclusive so that the success or failure of the project could be predicted with certainty.
· It can already be said with virtual certainty that lamb will never be as cheap again.· The one thing that can be said with certainty about mildew is that it is unpredictable.
· It has seemed a certainty to me from the beginning; the decision of the Council is tomorrow.· In Barcelona, gold seemed a certainty.· Tragically, it seems a deadly certainty that the region will dissolve into war.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
- We can possess a mathematical certainty that two and two make four, but this rarely matters to us.
- It was a practical certainty that he would be trying to raise more loans long before these were ever repaid.
WORD FAMILYnouncertainty ≠ uncertaintyadjectivecertain ≠ uncertainadverbcertainly ≠ uncertainly
1[uncountable] the state of being completely certainwith certainty She knew with absolute certainty that he’d say no. The result is impossible to predict with any degree of certainty.2[uncountable] the fact that something is certain to happencertainty of (doing) something the certainty of being caughtcertainty that There’s no certainty that he’ll remember.3[countable] something that is definitely true or that will definitely happen: He usually does quite well, but it’s not a certainty. The only certainty is that there will need to be major changes.