safe
/ˈseɪ̯f/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/ˈsæɪ̯f/
safe adjective: not in danger; out of harm's reach.
Adjective
safe (comparative safer or more safe, superlative safest or most safe)
- Not in danger; out of harm's reach.
- You’ll be safe from the storm here in the cabin.
- Free from risk.
- It’s safe to eat this berry.
- In fact, in presenting the home life of these people I have been at some pains to avoid the extreme of privation, taking the cases just as they came to hand on the safer middle-ground of average earnings.1890, Jacob A[ugust] Riis, “The Sweaters of Jewtown”, in How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 133
- Providing protection from danger; providing shelter.
- We have to find a safe spot, where we can hide out until this is over.
- When a batter successfully reaches first base, or when a baserunner successfully advances to the next base or returns to the base he last occupied; not out.
- The pitcher attempted to pick off the runner at first, but he was safe.
- In a location that renders it difficult to pot.
- Properly secured.
- The documents are safe inside the cabbinet.
- Synonyms:
- secure
- Not susceptible to a specified source of harm.
- dishwasher-safe
- Great, cool, awesome, respectable; a term of approbation, often as interjection.
- and you also forgot to mentioned^([sic]) the wheels man you know bmw playing / ragga jungle hip hop tunes / and on the mobile / yeah safe! / nice one / later1996 August 12, "Mandrake", “Re: Multiple Messages - an apology”, in uk.people.gothic (Usenet)
- Young Mal: Yu can’t. Irie means yer cool, yer safe, everything awright.1996 or 1997, Roy Williams, Plays 1: The No Boys Cricket Club / Startstruck / Lift Off, Methuen, published 2002, →ISBN, page 165
- Synonyms:
- wicked, cool, amazing, astounding, awe-inspiring, awesome, awful, sensational, awesomesauce, based
- Supported by evidence and unlikely to be overturned. Usually used in the negative, as unsafe.
- It is clear that this is not a safe conviction.
- Lenient, usually describing a teacher that is easy-going.
- Synonyms:
- easygoing, merciful, tolerant, clement, forbearing, indulgent, lax, lenient, loose-handed, permissible
- Antonyms:
- strict, harsh, intolerant
- Reliable; trusty.
- safe food
- Synonyms:
- trustworthy
- Certain; sure.
- "[…] so if you think he is at the infirmary, I'll make my way there." "He's safe to be there, my lad, because he's house surgeon to the infirmary, and they do say he's a very clever one."1883, Emma Raymond Pitman, Florence Godfrey's Faith: A Story of Australian Life, page 137
- "He's safe to be hanged, an' that, all in an' out, when they recovred there senses an' ther tongue, offert to make affidavid on, if they were askt upon oath."2023 May 3 [????], William Hamilton Maxwell, Erin-go-Bragh: Vol. I, BoD – Books on Demand, →ISBN, page 318
- Cautious.
- Of a programming language, type-safe or more generally offering well-defined behavior despite programming errors.
Noun
safe (plural safes)
- A box, usually made of metal, in which valuables can be locked for safekeeping.
- The small-timers, as he put it, kept their currency in their homes, in safes, in false ceilings, under beds. When necessary, our tax people know where to look. The big-timers, however, use Swiss banks.1992, Shashi Tharoor, Show Business: A Novel, page 144
- A condom.
- Condoms ARE available, on the underground market, at the outrageous price of ten dollars a piece! Now, I do not mind paying ten bucks for a good piece, as well as some peace of mind, but even the mere possession of these 'safes' is a disciplinary offense!1989 August 19, Gerard L. Ready, “Possessing A Condom Is An Offense!”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 6, page 4
- She'd better have an arsenal of Trojans in her purse just in case he wasn't carrying a safe in his back pocket.1999, Rita Ciresi, Pink Slip, Delta, published 1999, →ISBN, page 328
- Synonyms:
- condom, cum catcher, rubber
- A ventilated or refrigerated chest or closet for securing provisions from noxious animals or insects.
- The other room was a kitchen, with an open fireplace, a safe, a dresser and a tin sink, with a tap from the tank outside.1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 29
- A safety bicycle.
Verb
safe (third-person singular simple present safes, present participle safing, simple past and past participle safed)
- To make something safe.
- “It just trails behind the pylon until I land, then Cramer removes it when he safes the rocket pods. No evidence of anything when I taxi back inside the compound.”2007, Rocky Raab, Mike Five Eight: Air War Over Cambodia: Air War Over Cambodia
- One of the most important events after touchdown will be to safe the Dauntless, which will include purging the engines and shutting down the landing systems […]2012, Erik Seedhouse, Interplanetary Outpost
Proper noun (1) capitalized: SAFE
SAFE
- Acronym of Security Action for Europe.
- EU countries have in principle agreed on the proposals for a 150 billion euro ($168.3 billion) fund aimed at boosting Europe's defence, known as Security Action for Europe (SAFE), an EU diplomat said on Monday.2025 May 19, “EU countries agree on big defence fund, diplomat says”, in Reuters
- Acronym of State Administration of Foreign Exchange.
- Direct investment liabilities, a measure of FDI reflected in a country’s balance of payments, fell to just $4.9 billion in the April to June months, down 87% from a year earlier, according to data published by SAFE last month. That was the lowest amount in any quarter since records began in 1998.2023 September 19, Laura He, “China woos Tesla, JP Morgan and other Western companies as foreign investment slumps”, in CNN Business, archived from the original on 26 Jul 2025
Proper noun (2) capitalized: Safe
Safe
safe meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
safe in Hindi
- not in danger
- सुरक्षित surakṣit
- box in which valuables can be locked for safekeeping
- सेफ़ sef, ख़ज़ाना xazānā
safe in Tamil
- not in danger
- பாதுகாப்பாக pātukāppāka
- free from risk
- பாதுகாப்பானது pātukāppāṉatu
- providing protection from danger
- காக்க kākka, பாதுகாக்க pātukākka
- properly secured
- பாதுகாப்பாக pātukāppāka
safe in Marathi
- सुरक्षित
safe in Urdu
- not in danger
- محفوظ mahfūz
- box in which valuables can be locked for safekeeping
- سیف sef
More languagesFewer languages
- safe in Bengali
- নিরাপদ
- safe in Telugu
- సురక్షితం, సురక్షితంగా
- safe in Malayalam
- സുരക്ഷിതം
- safe in Kannada
- ಸುರಕ್ಷಿತ
- safe in Punjabi
- ਸੁਰੱਖਿਅਤ
- safe in Gujarati
- સલામત, સુરક્ષિત
- safe in Odia
- ସୁରକ୍ଷିତ, ନିରାପଦ
- safe in Assamese
- চন্দুক sonduk
- safe in Nepali
- सुरक्षित
- safe in Tagalog
- ligtas, kaha de yero
- safe in Arabic
- أَمِين ʔamīn, سَالِم sālim, آمِن ʔāmin, خَزْنَة حَدِيدِيَّة ḵazna ḥadīdiyya
- safe in Malay
- selamat, peti besi, peti keselamatan
- safe in Indonesian
- brankas
- safe in Persian
- ایمن imen, گاوصندوق gâvsanduq
- safe in Thai
- ปลอดภัย bplɔ̀ɔt-pai, กำปั่น gam-bpàn, ตู้เซฟ séep, ตู้นิรภัย
- safe in Vietnamese
- an toàn, chắc chắn, đáng tin cậy, ổn định
- safe in Myanmar
- မီးခံသေတ္တာ mi:hkamsetta, အာမခံသေတ္တာ ama.hkamsetta
Examples of safe in a sentence
- He had him gripped firmly by the arm, since he felt it was not safe to let him loose, and he had no immediate idea what to do with him.1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
- Probably the safest and easiest 'tool' that you can use to get off your rusty-dusty and follow your choice of exercise routine.2012, D.B. Myers, The BodyWise Health System, page 37:
- They touch hands.¶ Femi: Yeah, safe man.2002, Danny Braverman, Playing a Part: Drama and Citizenship, Trentham Books, →ISBN, One Thursday — a short play, page 62:
- “Yeah, safe mate, wassup?” says one hoodie, who should at least be credited with attempting a more detailed sentence construction.2013, Steve Carter, Love, Sex and Tesco's Finest Cava, →ISBN, page 169:
Synonyms of safe
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of safe
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | safer |
| comparative | more safe |
| superlative | safest |
| superlative | most safe |
| Noun | |
| plural | safes |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | safes |
| present participle | safing |
| past participle | safed |
| past | safed |
Origin of safe
From Middle English sauf, safe, saf, saaf, from Old French sauf, saulf, salf (“safe”), from Latin salvus (“whole, safe”), from Proto-Italic *salawos, from Proto-Indo-European *solh₂- (“whole, every”). Displaced Old English sicor (“secure, sure”).
Words formed from safe
- better safe than sorry
- binary safe
- biosafe
- childsafe
- Coolgardie safe
- covid-safe
- cybersafe
- dishwasher safe
- drop safe
- ensafe
- e-safe
- fail safe
- fail-safe
- firesafe
- French safe
- gender-safe
- ice-safe
- in safe hands
- is this a safe space
- keep yourself safe
- letter of safe conduct
- match safe
- meat safe
- memory-safe
- microwave safe
- night safe
- nonsafe
- on the safe side
- pie safe
- play it safe
- play safe
- quantum-safe
- safe account scam
- safe and sound
- safe area
- safe as a kitten
- safe as a kitten in a basket
- safe as a kitten in a box
- safe as houses
- safe as the Bank of England
- safe bet
- safeblower
- safeblowing
- safebox
- safebreaker
- safebreaking
- safe-conduct
- safe conduct
- safecracker
- safe-cracker
- safecracking
- safe day
- safe-deposit
- safe-deposit box
- safeguard
- safe harbor
- safehaven
- safe haven
- safe hit
- safehold
Phrases with safe
- safe sex
- safe bets
- safe days
- safe hits
- safe mode
- safe room
- safe seat
- safe word
- tape safe
- fails safe
- safe areas
- safe house
35 more phrasesFewer phrases
- safe place
- safe prime
- safe rooms
- safe seats
- safe space
- safe words
- failed safe
- safe havens
- safe houses
- safe places
- safe pledge
- safe primes
- safe spaces
- failing safe
- safe harbors
- safe harbour
- safe pledges
- safe travels
- plays it safe
- safe harbours
- played it safe
- is it safe here
- playing it safe
- safe deposit box
- safe deposit boxes
- safe pair of hands
- safe third country
- safe pairs of hands
- safe third countries
- have a safe trip home
- safe in the knowledge
- better safe then sorry
- letters of safe conduct
- safe navigation operator
- safe navigation operators
Words that rhyme with safe
Questions about safe
- What does safe mean?
- Safe means not in danger; out of harm's reach.
- What is safe in Hindi?
- Safe in Hindi is सुरक्षित (surakṣit), सेफ़ (sef), ख़ज़ाना (xazānā). See Safe meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use safe in a sentence?
- He had him gripped firmly by the arm, since he felt it was not safe to let him loose, and he had no immediate idea what to do with him.
- What part of speech is safe?
- Safe can be an adjective, a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce safe?
- Safe is pronounced /ˈseɪ̯f/.
Words near safe in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: safe (page history and authors); SAFE (page history and authors); Safe (page history and authors); safe (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); safe (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); safe (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); safe (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); safe (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); safe (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); safe (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); safe (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); safe (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-safe.ogg.
Cite this entry: “safe.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/safe. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.